Fate of the Three Worlds
by Skyler-Kaiba
Summary: My friend Liz and I get sucked into Sylvarant. We also find ourselves to have Exspheres. What will happen to us as we try to aid in the Journey of World Regeneration? Things are bound to be different from the game. Rating for later chapters.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I own nothing Tales of Symphonia. It belongs to Namco.

Tales of Symphonia: A Different World

A Self-Insertion Fic

One night in late July, I was going about my usual business before going to bed, and my friend Liz was spending the night, but she had already gone to sleep. It was, after all, 1:00 in the morning. I finished checking my e-mail, checking the Anime Roleplaying Tournament (in case anyone is interested in joining it) site, and my Neopets account. After I was done with all of this, I shut down my computer, slipped into my cut-off pajama shorts and white Medic t-shirt, removed my contact lenses and crawled into bed. When I was half-asleep, I thought I heard a strange crackling sound, kind of like electricity, at my window. Opening my eyes, I glanced over there. Because of not having my contacts, all I could see was a big white blob. I got up and grabbed my glasses from my desk drawer, to take a better look at it. Once my eyes adjusted momentarily to the glasses, I could see clearly that it was some kind of energy vortex, "What the-?" I nearly shouted in surprise.

I was apparently loud enough to wake Liz up, because she sat up on the air mattress she had been allowed to borrow and yawned, asking, "What's up, Jo?" She then put on her glasses and saw the energy vortex, "What is that?"  
I shrugged, "I don't know. It wasn't here earlier. Let's try to move away from it though. I have a bad feeling about it." I got onto the air mattress with Liz, which was almost right next to the door of my bedroom, a little further away from the window.

However, the vortex expanded and shot lightning at both Liz and me.

Fighting a cry of pain, I began to black out, muttering, "What in the-?"

Liz was also blacked out.

When we came to, we were in Iselia. I saw many fires and guessed we had arrived in Iselia in Tales of Symphonia, apparently just after the Desians had attacked the quaint little village. I sighed, "This is just great..." I muttered to myself.

Liz seemed generally dazed and confused. She asked me, "Jo...where are we?"

I replied, "We're in the village Iselia. You remember that game I told you about, Tales of Symphonia?"

Liz nodded, "Yeah."

I then told her, "Well, we've apparently been sucked into their world somehow and..." I trailed off, seeing Lloyd and Genis coming our way.

Liz blinked, "Sucked into a game? Talk about weird..."

I nodded, "Yes, it's weird."

Lloyd glared at us, "Who are you two? Are you involved with the Desians?"

I jumped slightly. Boy, does Lloyd have scary killer looks. Not as bad as Kratos, but still, he was scary when he was mad. I then replied, "...I'm Joanna, and this is my friend, Elizabeth. Desians? No, we don't. We're not even sure how we got here, to tell you the truth."

Liz nodded a greeting to Lloyd, "Call me Liz." She smiled at him, trying to be friendly.

Lloyd replied, "Well, you'd best not stick around here. If the Desians find you, there will be trouble. Go hide in the school building. It's just up this path Genis and I came down."

I shook my head, "I want to help the village somehow. Please, let me help you guys." As I glanced at the floor, hoping I wasn't being too presumptuous, I noticed that my clothes were now different from what I had been wearing. I had on a blue tank top-ish belly shirt, a white skirt and sandals. I also had some new equipment. A bow slung over my shoulder, a quiver of 30 arrows, a dagger, and a leather guard underneath of my shirt. I also had a white Exsphere.

Genis told me, "Well...I don't know. What do you think, Lloyd? Can we trust them?"

Lloyd scratched his chin for a moment, thinking.

I glanced over at Liz while waiting for his decision. After all, I was four years Lloyd's senior, 21 years of age. I noticed that her clothing had changed too, and that she also had equipment, "Liz...your clothes! They're...different from what you were wearing."

Liz glanced down, blinking, "Oh...you're right. They're nice though." She shrugged, "Your clothes were changed too."

I nodded, "I know...I think it has something to do with that vortex..." I whispered so that Lloyd and Genis wouldn't hear. If they heard something about a vortex, they would be really confused and I would have to explain everything. And buddies, I did not feel like explaining that I was from Earth in what could be considered the future.

After 5 minutes, Lloyd spoke again and said, "All right. You can help us with the Desians. Just don't get in my way when it comes time to battle."

I smiled, "Don't worry, Lloyd. I won't. I'll be standing back with Genis. I have a bow, so I wouldn't be much good up close."

Liz nodded, "And I'm a sorceress and have a staff, so I would have to stand back too."

Lloyd nodded also, "Then let's go and teach those Desians a lesson!"

I blinked, then smirked, "Yeah, let's do this."

We all took off for the village plaza.

Upon arriving, one of the Desians shouted, "Lloyd Irving! Come here!"

Lloyd went around the mayor and other gathered villagers, stopping in front of them, "You're attacking the village again?! I won't stand for it!"

I went and stood behind Lloyd, "Me neither!"

The Desian seemed clueless and answered, "What? What do you mean?"

Forcystus walked up. The Desian who had been speaking got out of his way.

Forcystus then said, "He doesn't mean anything, ignore him. Inferior beings, know this. I am Forcystus, one of the Five Desian Grand Cardinals. I'm the half-elf that's in charge of the ranch where we cultivate you pathetic humans."

I glared, fighting the urge to slap the half-elf over the head with my bow, "Who you calling pathetic?"

Lloyd glared at me, then looked back at Forcystus. That look got me to shut up rather quickly.

Liz added, just for good measure, "Yeah!"

I looked at Liz, shaking my head, "We don't want to make things worse for Lloyd."

Liz nodded and stayed quiet now.

Forcystus then continued his speech, "Lloyd! You have been found guilty of violating our non-aggression treaty. You were in contact with host body F-192 and attacked some of our best guards. I have taken up the liberty of rounding up the appropriate opponent to dish out the punishment for your crime."

A large, green beast made its way into the village, stopping just behind Forcystus for a moment.

Forcystus then said, "Face your punishment!"

The beast walked forward and swiped at Lloyd with one of its overlarge, green arms.

I jumped back, narrowly getting cut on the shoulder, "Hey, watch it!" I shouted at Forcystus.

Forcystus glared, "I wasn't talking to you, woman." He fired a small blast of mana at me.

I nimbly dodged it, thanks to the Exsphere. If I didn't have that thing, I would have so been blasted.

Lloyd yelled at Forcystus, "Leave her out of this! If you're going to punish me, punish only me!"

Genis told Lloyd, "I'll help you kill the thing, Lloyd."

Liz added, "Yes, I will too."

I went back over to them and stood next to Liz, "Ditto." I told them, readying for a fight. I then looked at the villagers, "You guys might want to stand back. This could get rather nasty."

The villagers nodded their heads and took a few steps back, stopping at the Desians at the back of the plaza.

Lloyd looked at me, "Sure you can handle it?"

I nodded, "I can handle it. You get up close and chop the thing up while Liz and Genis use spells and I use my bow."

Lloyd replied, "All right." He ran up close to the monster and Demon Fang-ed it right on the stomach.

The creature seemed almost unphased and swiped at Lloyd again with one of its clawed arms.

Lloyd brought his wooden sword up defensively, reducing the amount of damage done to him, though his arm hurt a little from the impact of the creature's blow.

Genis was charging up Stone Blast, surrounded by light tan-colored runes, cause I think that's the only tech he had at this point. Well, that and Fire Ball.

Liz was preparing to use what I guessed was Lightning, for she was surrounded in a ring of purple runes on the floor.

I pulled the bow off of my shoulder and got ready to fire, pulling an arrow from my quiver and putting it on the string. I then fired at the offending creature.

The arrow I fired went straight at the monster's arm, the one getting ready to slash at Lloyd again. It hit and the behemoth of a monster howled in pain. It seemed rather ticked off now and started towards me. I remembered that I had a dagger hidden somewhere on me and pulled it out. If I had to, I would fight up close, but I would rather Lloyd since he is probably better at close combat.

The monster growled angrily at me and slashed at my chest, but I instinctively brought up my arm and protected the vital point. My arm got badly cut up and was now bleeding. I winced in pain and took a few steps back, "Lloyd!"

Lloyd ran over at that moment and stabbed the creature in the heart, finally killing it.

After the monster was defeated, it fell to the ground, a mess of black blood.

I shivered, then looked at Forcystus, "What now, punk? We beat your best monster."

Forcystus glared, "How is this possible?" He then noticed Lloyd's Exsphere and blinked, "Wait...you have an Exsphere?"

I felt like saying, 'Well, duh' but I stayed perfectly silent. I had one too, and thought it kind of odd that he didn't mention mine, or Liz's pink one for that matter. How did I just notice that? Anyway, moving right along...Lloyd answered him confidently, "Yes, what about it?"

Forcystus smirked, "Ah yes, your Exsphere must be that one the woman had. Give it back!"

Lloyd shook his head, "No! I'm not giving this thing to you Desians!"

Forcystus glared, "Then I'll just take it from you myself." He began to walk towards Lloyd, who was still a little winded from the battle with the monster.

Genis moved to stand between Lloyd and the half-elf, protecting his friend, "No! I won't let you take it!"

Forcystus hissed, "Foolish child! Get out of my way!" He backhanded Genis, hard, sending the half-elf flying into a building.

I winced, "That had to hurt..." I mumbled to myself, as Liz ran over to Genis. My arm still stung terribly and was still bleeding. I hope that Forcystus soon leaves. Otherwise we might have to fight him just to keep him from taking Lloyd's Exsphere.

Just then, another monster appears and holds Forcystus back from harming Lloyd. I hear a frail, old-sounding voice come from the monster, "Lloyd! Genis! Get out of here..."

Genis gasps, recognizing the voice as Marble, "...Marble?! What?"

I blink, "...I wonder what happened?"

Genis shrugged, still watching the monster and Forcystus, "Beats me, but I know that voice anywhere."

Monster Marble replied, "Go now! I'll take care of him!" She begins to glow, as if to explode or something.

I blinked, a bit surprised and excited to be witnessing these things firsthand, "How?" I ask the monster.

Monster Marble told me, "Watch." She then exploded on Forcystus, badly maiming the Grand Cardinal in charge of Iselia Ranch and causing him to drop to his knees.

Several Desians gather around Forcystus. One of them yells, "Lord Forcystus!"

Forcystus hissed, "Retreat for now! I'll come for you, Lloyd Irving. Know that." He and his henchmen seem to disappear.

I sigh in relief, glad that it was settled. I wince as my arm hurts.

Liz walks over to me, "Here, let me help. First Aid!" The wound on my arm begins to heal up from the spell.

I smiled at Liz, "Thanks." I glance over at Lloyd, who is now standing near the Mayor.

The Mayor told Lloyd, "I can't believe this! Look what you've done Lloyd! You've brought destruction upon this village! You let our people suffer."

Lloyd frowns and looks at the ground, obviously feeling very guilty. He mutters, just loud enough for the mayor to hear, "I'm sorry..."

Mayor man replied, "Do you think an apology will bring back all the people who died? Will it rebuild the homes destroyed by the Desians?"

Lloyd shook his head, "No..." He didn't know what else to say and was looking VERY very distraught now.

I finally speak up, "Hey! Stop it! It's not like he WANTED this to happen. It's not like he meant for it to."

Mayor spoke again, "Maybe not, but he went to the ranch, and that was strictly against village law."

Genis spoke up, "If you're going to exile him, exile me too. I'm the one who insisted that Lloyd come with me to the ranch."

Liz and I both blinked, amazed at Genis's display of courage.

Mayor sighed, "All right...fine. I, the Mayor of Iselia, by the authority given to me, do hereby announce the banishment of Genis and Lloyd from Iselia. Men, show them out."

Several of the militia finally step forward and escort Lloyd and Genis to the entrance/exit. Why couldn't they have showed up earlier and helped us with the monster?!

One woman speaks up, "Mayor? Should we really use such harsh a punishment on children?"  
I roll my eyes as if to say, 'Woman, your mayor cares more about his relations with the Desians than he does some 17-year-old swordsman and 12-year-old half-elf boy.'

Mayor responded to the woman, "It's necessary if we want to stay alive. You don't know what you're saying!" He looked at me and Liz now, "What are you two going to do? You seem to be friends of Lloyd. Though you may stay here, know that public opinion about you will not be positive."

I sighed and said, "No, I think Liz and I will leave too. Though we're not exiled, Lloyd is our friend and you were just a bit harsh on him. I won't stay anywhere I'm not welcome." I walked out of the village, followed silently by Liz.

Once we left the village, we saw Lloyd and Genis talking to each other silently as they headed south, most likely trying to catch up to Colette and the others. I called out, "Hey, Genis! Lloyd!"

Lloyd stopped dead in his tracks and turned to face me, "Oh, hey Joanna! What's up?"

I replied swiftly, "We want to come with you. Though we're not banned from Iselia like you are, we know we won't be welcome there since we're considered your friends."

Lloyd nodded, "...I'm sorry."

I sighed, "Lloyd, I may not know you that well yet, but from the way you were acting after hearing about all the suffering, I know you are a good person. I know that if I was told I was responsible for someone's death indirectly, I would be unhappy too. And don't worry about Liz and I, okay? We're friends and..."

Liz finished my sentence, "Can take care of each other."

Genis blinked, "Yeah...you two are scaring me. You're practically like sisters, huh?"

Liz answered, "Yeah, pretty much. So, what are you guys doing?"

Lloyd replied, "Well, I think we should head for the House of Salvation to the south. I think I heard something about Colette and the others heading south." He shrugged.

I nodded, "That would make sense." I knew exactly where the Fire Seal was, but I wouldn't say anything. I didn't want to mess up the time line _too _badly. I mean, Liz's and my presence were already starting to change things a little, but so far nothing catastrophic had happened.

Genis spoke up, "Then we'll head south, and stop at the House of Salvation to rest. The sun's already low in the sky, so we should get going before it gets too dark."

Liz responded, "Good idea, Genis. Let's go then."

We all headed south, to the House of Salvation. Once there, we asked for a room.

The woman responsible for looking after the place replied, "Okay, that'll be 100 Gald please."

Genis handed her the money, thankfully.

I wasn't too sure if Liz or I would have enough to pay for that. I smiled at Genis and told him, "Thanks."

Genis nodded, "No problem. Come on, we'd better get some rest. Hey, where'd Lloyd go?"

Liz shrugged, "Probably already in bed by now."

I sighed, "I certainly hope so..." I muttered, a bit too myself. I was remembering that Lloyd got captured by the Renegades at this point and Raine and the others had met him at their base to rescue him. I then went to sleep.

Liz curled up on the bed next to mine and also went to sleep.

Genis yawned then went to sleep in another bed.

The next morning, we set out, after taking an hour and a half just to wake up Lloyd.

Unexpectedly, we ran into a large crowd of Renegades. One of them shouted, "There he is! It's Lloyd Irving! Get him!"

Before Lloyd could even pull his swords out, one of the Renegades hit him hard on the back of the head and began to drag him away.

I gasped, "Lloyd!" I tried to chase the offending Renegade, but was met with a whip to my arm, "Ow!"

Liz glared at the Desian who had attacked me, "Leave my friend alone!" She whacked him on the head with her staff.

Genis gulped, shaking and standing back from us and the Renegades, "P-please...don't hurt me. Can you...let us go? Or at least me?"

The leader of this group replied, "...Hmm, well, since you're not wanted criminals like Lloyd is...I suppose we could let you go, but only if you leave the young lady here with us as insurance that you won't try to rescue your friend." He was looking pointedly at me.

Liz gasped, "But...no, you can't do that. That's not fair!"

The leader told her, "Life's not fair, girl. Deal with it."  
I sighed and looked at Liz and Genis, "You two, go, and tell the others what is happening. I'll be fine here. If they try to do anything, I can always whack them upside the head with my bow."

Genis sighed and gave a small, reluctant nod, "All right...but be careful." He looked at Liz, "You coming?"

Liz sighed, but then nodded, "Yeah, just give me and Jo a second."

The leader muttered, "Make it quick."

Liz told me, "Jo...I'm begging you, please be careful. I don't know what these Desians are like."

I smiled at her, "Don't worry, Liz. I'll be okay. I know what they're capable of. You just go on with Genis." I gave her a friendly hug, then looked at Genis, nodding a goodbye.

Genis and Liz left me to go find the others.

They then came back with Kratos, who was looking very annoyed at having to play 'the gallant hero', Raine, and Colette. I called out, "Hey, everyone! Mind negotiating with these...Desians so they'll let me go?" I couldn't say Renegades, or otherwise it might cause problems, of many kinds.

Raine nodded, "I think I'll do the talking. Kratos tends to be a bit...well, blunt."

Kratos shot the professor a glare, but then nodded his head.

Raine came over to the Renegades and asked them, "Could you...perhaps let our friend go? We need her."

The leader of the group of Renegades responded in the same vein, asking, "What do you want with her? What do you need her for?"  
I was about to say, 'Well, duh, so I can help rescue Lloyd!', but held back. I knew that wouldn't help my situation, so I remained silent for now.

Colette answered, "She's...she's part of my group. We're trying to regenerate the world." She smiled.

I muttered, giving Colette a thumbs-up, "Very Chosen-like of you, Colette." I then gave her a winning smile.

Colette smiled back at me then looked at the leader of this small group of Renegades.

The leader blinked, "Wait...so you're the Chosen's group?"

Kratos replied bluntly, "Yes. Now, release this girl or things will get very ugly, very fast."

Oh gosh...even an implied threat from Kratos sounds scary. I hope these Renegades let me go...or else I'll have to witness more bloodshed, and I think I've had my fill of that for today.

The leader gulped, a bit unnerved by Kratos's threat, "Of...of course..." He untied my hands and ankles.

I sighed in relief, "Thanks, Kratos and Raine."

They both nodded their heads simultaneously.

I looked at Liz, "You and Genis okay?"

Genis nodded his head, "Yeah yeah, I'm fine." He yawned a bit, "Just a little tired."  
Liz replied, "I'm fine."

Kratos sighed, "Well...now that most of us are here, with the exception of Lloyd of course, shall we get on with the journey?"

Colette looked at Kratos, "...But what about Lloyd? We can't just leave him in the hands of the Desians! Please, Kratos, let's rescue him. Our journey leads that way anyway."

Genis glared at Kratos, "How could you suggest something so cold? For all we know, they could be beating Lloyd to death."

Kratos murmured, after giving Genis a strange look, "I doubt it. Fine, fine. We'll rescue him."

I nodded, "Now that it's settled where we're going, I need to talk to you for a couple minutes, Kratos. If you don't mind, that is."

Kratos blinked, then sighed and nodded, "All right, but it had better be quick. We need to get moving if we're going to rescue Lloyd."

I responded, "This won't take long, don't worry."

After I was sure we were out of earshot of Raine, Genis, and Liz, I told Kratos, "I know all there is to know about you...including the fact that Lloyd is your son by way of Anna, and that you are a member of Cruxis."

Kratos shot me a death glare, but replied, "Your point exactly?"

I told him, "I don't know what I'm going to do about it. Tell ya what...I won't say anything to the others if you promise to tone down on how harsh you are to Lloyd."

Kratos muttered, "It's for his own good that I do that...but all right. I will try to tone down a bit on the harsh comments."

I smiled, "Good, then it's a deal." I offered Kratos my hand to shake.

Kratos rolled his eyes, then shook my hand, "Yes. Now that all that's settled, let's get back to the others."

I nodded, "Right then, let's go."

Liz asked, "Jo, what was it you were talking to him about?"

In a _very_ quiet voice, I told Liz, "About the things of this world that I know about...including the fact that he's really an angel of Cruxis."

Liz blinked, "Eh...what's Cruxis?"

I sighed, "To make a long story short, they're a group of angels and half-elves dedicated to the revival of Martel, Mithos's sister."

Liz nodded, "Okay, I guess that makes sense."

I smiled, "Good, now that it's explained, let's catch up to Kratos and the others." I jogged to catch up to the small group, with Liz right behind me.

After about 5 hours of walking, all of us began to feel tired.

Liz yawned, "Can we stop and rest soon? My legs feel like they're about to fall off."

I told Raine and Kratos, since I was (and still am) an adult too, "It might be a good idea to camp for the night and go to the base first thing in the morning. What do you guys think?"

Kratos scratched his chin for a moment, then nodded, "I think that it makes sense. Lloyd won't be going anywhere, so it should be fine."

Genis shuddered, "But...if we take too long, they might...they might take him to one of the human ranches."

Kratos glared darkly at the idea, muttering barely audibly, "If they try, they shall be tasting my steel."

I blinked, "Whoa, okay. Yeah, it should be fine to stop for the night, right?" I looked at Raine, who had remained quiet despite Kratos's menacing glare.

Raine nodded, "Yes, it should be."

I gave Kratos a knowing smile for what he had said about what he would do to the 'Desians' if they tried to take Lloyd to one of the ranches. I muttered under my breath, "Very fatherly of you, Kratos."

Kratos had heard me because of his angelic senses and shrugged, as impassive as ever. It was as if my comment hadn't even phased him. Gr r...that was SO annoying.

Genis yawned, "Okay, enough talking. Let's do some sleeping now before I fall asleep standing up."

Raine asked, "...Is that even possible?"  
I nodded my head, "Yes, it is. I've almost done it a couple of times."

Liz replied, "Ditto."

A little while later, we all lay down on the ground, with the exception of Kratos, who agreed to take up night watch.

I whispered, so as not to wake the now-sleeping Colette, Genis, and Raine, "Since you're an angel...you don't need sleep, do you?"

Kratos shook his head, "Not as often, anyway. Since I was originally human, I might need light rest every couple of days, but other than that, I'm quite all right."

I nodded, yawning, "Well, I think that's...oh wait, one more question."

Kratos sighed, "You really need your sleep, Joanna."

I replied, "I know, I know. Just let me ask this one question, or it will bug me all night and I won't be able to sleep."

Kratos nodded, "Very well then. Ask away."

I questioned, "...If you're an angel...and Anna was a human, wouldn't that make Lloyd half-angel? How does that work?"

Kratos shook his head immediately, "No...since I was originally human, he inherited my human traits. It's not really that complicated."

I nodded, "Okay then. Good night, Kratos."

Kratos nodded a good night and walked over to Noishe, petting the Protozoan on the head.

The night passed uneventfully, and I was one of the first ones up, not surprisingly. I smiled at Kratos, "Good morning."

The seraph mercenary remained as impassive as ever, and replied, "Good morning. I trust you got enough sleep."

I nodded, "Yes, I did." I looked over at Genis, who was just beginning to stir, "Well, I'll be right back. I'm gonna go behind that palm tree there and take off these sand-ridden clothes."

Kratos nodded his head and looked at the others, to give me a bit more privacy, "Good morning, everyone."

Raine mumbled, "Good morning..."

Colette smiled, "Good morning, Kratos."

Liz yawned, then told the mercenary, "Morning."

I came back out from behind the thick-trunked tree, now wearing a black tank top, blue shorts, and white boots, "There, that's better. So, after breakfast, we set out to rescue Lloyd, right?"

Colette nodded, "Yeah, we're gonna rescue him from the Desians."

Genis sighed, "It's the least I can do...I did sorta abandon him."

Liz looked at Genis, "No you didn't...you're just a little boy. I'm not surprised you left after the Desians took him. I know I would've been frightened if Jo had been grabbed by them."

I murmured, "Yeah, thanks for the vote of confidence there, Liz."

Liz shrugged.

Kratos spoke again, "Okay, enough already. Eat if you're going to so we can get moving."

Colette nodded and grabbed some bread out of one of the bags on Noishe's back. She then got out some butter and made herself some buttered bread for breakfast.

I got some cheese and bacon and two pieces of bread and made myself a bacon-cheese sandwich.

Liz grabbed some rice and bacon and made herself a quaint little rice breakfast.

After we all finished eating, we got up and headed off toward the base.

We arrived at the front gates around noon, greeted by several of the Renegades.

I sighed, "...Great, the welcoming party's here..."

Kratos looked at me, "Let me deal with them." He walked right up to the Renegades and told them, "You will let us through or we'll let the monsters out there in the desert have you."

I blinked, then sighed, "...Yeah, nice diplomacy there, Kratos..." I muttered a bit to myself. Kratos was supposed to be an angel of Cruxis, for goodness sake, so you would think he had better diplomacy! But anyway, moving right along, the Renegades (though unknown to all in the party except for my friend and me) trembled a bit then said, "...Nobody but Lords Yuan and Botta and fellow Renegades are allowed to pass through here...um...err, I mean..." He sweat dropped and looked at the other soldier.

The other soldier smacked his forehead, "You bumbling idiot! Now you've given away that we're NOT Desians. I'm taking you to Lord Yuan for punishment...after we deal with these cretins."

I glared slightly at the comment, "Who're you calling a cretin?" I clutched my dagger tightly at the insult.

Kratos was unphased by the comment, but drew his sword anyway, prepared to cut them down for getting in our way, "You will stand aside, men. Otherwise...the last thing you will ever feel will be the sting of my steel on your pathetic throats."

I gulped and silently reminded myself never to stand in Kratos's way or get him angry.

Liz was a little afraid now and whimpered slightly behind me.

I looked at her, "...It's okay, Liz. He's...just bluffing...I hope."

Raine looked at me and said, "Don't be so sure, Joanna. Kratos can be quite serious. Especially when he's talking like _that_."

I shrugged, "We'll just have to see, won't we?" I then looked at Kratos and the 'Desians' again.

One of the two soldiers spoke, "...N-no...we won't let you pass."

The other one replied boldly, "You'll have to kill us!"

Kratos glared, sighing in annoyance, "Fine...then die." He cut through the two Renegade soldiers easily and sheathed his sword again in two swift motions.

I blinked, "Well...sure showed them, didn't you, Kratos?"

Kratos shrugged.

Genis spoke up, "Come on, let's go inside. I hope we can get to Lloyd in time to save him!"

I told Genis, "I'm sure he's fine, Genis. Don't worry so much. He's stronger than you think." I then smiled at him, in a knowing sort of way.

Genis nodded, "...Okay, Joanna, if you say so." He wondered what the look I gave him meant, but then shrugged it off.

Kratos put in his two cents, "Lloyd's most likely fine. Come on."

After making our way through numerous corridors and fighting several Raybits and guards (A/N: Not an easy feat, I got a cut wrist during that time...which made me unable to use my bow, but that's fine. I still had a dagger.), we almost ran into one last set of guards...but none of us were in the mood to fight at the moment, so we all took off, running to what we hoped was the right place.

Kratos (who, surprisingly led us in our retreat...go figure) had guessed right and we got into the room just in time to see Yuan threatening Lloyd with a glowing purple ball of mana.

I called out instinctively, "Lloyd!"

Yuan was momentarily distracted and looked to us. Hoping Kratos hadn't caught sight of him yet, he started to take off, only to be stopped by Lloyd tackling him.

'Okay...this **definitely** didn't happen in the game...uh-oh...which means Kratos might find out that Yuan is...oh man!' I thought to myself, 'Just totally screw up the whole game, Jo! Way to go!'

Genis asked Lloyd, "Lloyd?! Are you okay?!"

Colette asked essentially the same question, but re-worded it, "Are you all right?"

Lloyd nodded his head, "Yeah. Thanks for coming to my rescue."

Kratos spoke, "It was the Chosen's idea." He glared at Yuan, crossing his arms and giving him a look of disgust and disapproval, "All this time...I thought I could trust you, Yuan. You were my best friend."

I was glad he wasn't saying anything about being an angel of Cruxis...but then again, it might've just confused everyone, so it kinda made sense to me in a way.

Yuan told him, "...Kratos...I...I didn't want to betray you. That was never my intention." He jabbed Lloyd hard in the ribs with his elbow, to get him off.

Lloyd yelped in pain and leapt off of the blue-haired half-elf Renegade leader.

Kratos told him, "Nevertheless, you have. Out of my sight, now!"

Yuan walked over to him and whispered in his ear, "Will you tell Lord Yggdrasil about this?"

Kratos sighed and replied quietly, "...At the moment, I am not sure. For now, just go."

Botta walked in at that moment, "...Lord Yuan! He...he saw you! I am sorry I didn't arrive sooner."

Yuan sighed to Botta and replied, "It's all right, Botta. Don't worry about it." He nodded and walked toward the warp pad in the tiny closet in the back of the room, telling Lloyd, "Just you wait, Lloyd. We'll meet again, and when we do, you're mine."

I told him, "Not on my watch."

Yuan had disappeared before I had said it though.

Botta looked back at all of us, "I can take care of everyone at once."

Kratos sighed and told him, "Botta...I have no quarrel with you...but if we must fight, we must."

He drew his sword.

I sighed, "...Kratos, do we really need to fight him?"

Lloyd told me, "He's not giving us much of a choice. Come on, Joanna and Raine."

I replied, "Why don't you let Colette fight in my place? I can't use my bow, remember?"

Lloyd blinked, "Ohhh...uh, yeah, I remembered." He grinned, then looked to Colette, "You up for another fight?"

Colette nodded her head, "Yes, Lloyd, I'm ready."

The rest of us stood quite a ways away from the fight. The ones fighting were Raine, Kratos, Lloyd, and Colette.

The fight took a few hours, but Botta still wasn't defeated. However, he retreated before he could be SOUNDLY defeated.

I sighed, "Well...so much for that. Come on then, let's get out of this place."

Raine nodded her head, rubbing it slightly, "I agree with Joanna, let's go."

I guessed that Raine's head was hurting because of the intense use of mana. After all, she had been casting a _lot_ of healing spells over the past four hours.

Lloyd nodded, "So...the Journey of World Regeneration is back on?"

Colette smiled, "Yep! I'll save Sylvarant!"

I muttered to myself, "And destroy Tethe'alla."

Kratos looked to me, having heard what I said. Curse his angel senses, I say, curse them!

I blinked, "...What, Kratos? I didn't..."

Kratos sighed, "May I speak to you?"

I nodded, "Sure..."

Kratos swiftly took me aside and asked, "...All right, what's going on with you? How do you know about Tethe'alla?"

I scratched my chin, trying to think up a really believable lie. I then told him, "...I was originally from there, but my parents took a pilgrimage to Sylvarant. They were curious about the dying world and were killed by the Desians shortly after arriving here. I was raised in Asgard from age 5 until now."

Kratos didn't believe me, but he didn't press any further, thankfully. He went back to the others.

I sighed and muttered, "Note to self: find a way home, and fast!"

Lloyd spoke, "Joanna...how's your wrist?" He seemed genuinely worried about me. How kind of him, especially considering whose son he is. (A/N: Just kidding...)

I replied, "...It's on the mend. I may not be able to use my bow for at least a day though."

Colette then added, "That's okay. There are enough of us that she won't need to be doing a lot of fighting."

Liz nodded, "Yeah, don't worry, Jo. Just let your wrist heal. Don't fight unless you have to defend yourself."

I smiled and nodded, "All right, all right, already! I won't. Sheesh!"

Raine sighed, "All right, that's enough. Let's get out of here, okay?"

A collective nod showed that we were all okay to go, so we left the Renegade base and headed out for the Seal of Fire.

* * *

A/N: I know, a very long first chapter, but consider for a moment what all has happened. Next chapter will contain the Seal of Fire, Palmacosta, The Palmacosta Ranch: Part I, and Learning Dorr's True Motives. 


	2. Chapter 2

Tales of Symphonia: Fate of the Three Worlds

Chapter 2: The Seal of Fire and the Ossa Trail

As we arrived at the Triet Ruins to go into the Seal of Fire, Lloyd sighed and spoke up, "It's so hot here. I'm beat."

Genis shook his head and told him, "See? You're already worn out."

I sighed and told Genis, "You can't exactly blame the guy. He was jumping with excitement before we even got here, and this desert heat is pretty intense. Kratos…how are you not feeling this heat?"  
Kratos merely replied, "I just don't let it get to me. There is a difference."

I muttered, "Yeah, whatever." I then looked ahead and saw some monsters, gulping.

Lloyd glared slightly, also spotting the monsters, "Guys, let's take them down quick. I want to see Colette become an angel and we need to get them out of the way!"

Colette and Genis both nodded, as did Kratos.

Raine sighed, "Then I'll stay back with Joanna. Perhaps I can help her wrist heal a little faster." She took me away from the fight and gently touched her rod to my wounded wrist.

I looked at the fight, watching Lloyd and the others with mild concern.

Liz was standing right beside me, also watching. She told me, "I'll jump in too, once Raine is done with you."

I nodded my head, "All right, Liz…just be careful. Don't let your guard down for a second. Sure, you'll have Lloyd and Kratos watching your back but they won't always be there to save you."

Liz nodded back and looked back at the fight.

Once all three Fire Elementals were dead, Kratos gave a sigh of relief, "That was too close. All of you must learn techniques to protect yourselves, including Joanna and Liz. Otherwise, they might become a liability."

I crossed my arms, "I'm not a liability, dammit! My wrist is just hurt. I'm sorry I couldn't fight, okay? Let me make it up to you when we face the monsters at the seal."

Raine gave Kratos a warning glare, "Kratos, you don't need to be so hard on her. She's hurt and can't fight, and that's the end of it. I won't have her wound getting worse simply because it's inconvenient for you."

I sighed, "No…Kratos is right. I still need to learn the defensive technique, even if I won't be fighting all that much. And it's fine…I know that I need to hurry up and heal to help protect Colette."

Colette smiled then shook her head, "No, you don't. There are plenty of us already without you fighting. Take all the time you need." She gave Kratos somewhat of a pouty look, a look Kratos had only seen from one other soul, and that was Anna, "Don't try to rush it, Kratos. She'll fight when she's ready and not before."

Kratos nodded, "As you wish, Chosen." He turned, "Now then, I will teach each one of you a separate technique. It will take a few hours, but it will be worth the time."

Four hours later, we all knew defensive techs. Lloyd learned Guardian, Colette learned Damage Guard, Genis and Raine learned Force Field, Liz learned Light Protection (basically the same as Force Field except that it is golden and much stronger), and I learned Protection of the Forest (similar to Damage Guard, but stronger).

Lloyd nodded, "Okay…I don't really understand it, but I do feel stronger."

Genis grumbled, "I think you're just imagining it."

I smiled and tried not to laugh at the two, then turned to look at Raine.

Raine finally asked, "Say, what happened to Noishe?" She looked curiously around, wondering where our lovable white-and-green Protozoan friend had gone.

Everyone else looked around. I, however, didn't since I knew that Noishe had run off because of the monsters.

Lloyd sighed, "Man, you're right. He's gone, wandered off again."

Kratos beat me to the punch, saying, "It probably has something to do with the monsters. It would be best not to count on Noishe in places with monsters around."

Colette blinked, "Hmm? What's this dark stone slab about, I wonder?"

Raine's eyes fell on the slab of magitechnology covering the entrance to the seal and lit up. She went into her 'Archaeological Mania' mode and said, "The structure of this stone is simply marvelous! It's made of polycarbonate, a material used to stand against magic in the ancient war of Kharlan. It's sooooo interesting!" She ran her hand over the smooth stone, blabbering on and on about it.

Kratos blinked and looked to Genis, "Is she always like this?"

Lloyd looked at the half-elf too, "…Well, is she?"

Genis gave a small groan and told them, "And I was trying so hard to hide it too…"

Raine stood up, brushing past Kratos to look at the stone pedestal he was standing near, "Hmmm…Colette, try placing your hand here. The inscription here reads: Oracle Stone."

Colette nodded and placed her hand on the pedestal. The stone slab flipped back, revealing a set of stairs leading down into the Seal of Fire, "It opened! I guess I really am the Chosen after all!"

Genis tried not to laugh, smirking a bit, though it was dangerously close to being a smile, "Yes, I think we all knew that already."

Lloyd spoke excitedly, "All right then, let's goes inside! I can't wait to see Colette become an angel!"

I sighed and muttered to myself, "If only I could be as excited as you about this, Lloyd."

Once we were all down the stairs and into the main temple, we ran into a few Firebirds. After Lloyd, Kratos, Genis, and Colette had dealt with them; we headed further into the seal, finding torches to light. Once we had all the torches lit, we headed to the warp pad that we had just gotten access to and teleported to the seal room.

Once there, Raine spoke up, "This place is also constructed from magitechnology. Simply amazing!" She then walked forward towards the seal with the rest of us.

Remiel's voice spoke from above. Though I hadn't been at the temple at the time of the oracle, I knew the voice anywhere, "Chosen of Mana, offer your prayers to the goddess Martel." Once he appeared in a flash of golden light and feathers, he looked straight at me with the meanest look I have ever seen from an angel of Cruxis. He then looked to Kratos, telepathically questioning him about me, though I was unaware of it at the time.

Colette prayed, "O Goddess Martel, lend me thy strength to face the trials ahead."

She then looked to Remiel once she was finished.

Remiel told her, "You have done well to come this far, Chosen of Mana, my beloved daughter, Colette. The seal has been released. As a reward for coming this far, we of Cruxis bless you and give you a small bit of the power of the angels."

A few specks of light went into Colette and she received her pastel pink-and-purple wings.

Lloyd looked startled, "Colette…has wings!"

Once Colette received her 'blessing', she went back down to the floor, landing on her feet and turning to look at Lloyd. She smiled, "Yep. I can put them away too, see?" She retracted the wings of pure mana.

Remiel called their attention again, "Chosen, there are still more seals to be released throughout the land. Proceed next to the Seal of Water, across the sea. Offer your prayers at that alter, and you will receive more blessings from Cruxis. Once you have released the seals, you will become a true angel and proceed to heaven to take your place among the other angels in waking the sleeping goddess."

I walked a little closer and whispered inside my head, "…Going a little over the top with this aren't you, Remiel?"

Remiel cast me a wary look and crossed his arms, having heard my thoughts, "I don't know what you are talking about, woman. Do not speak to a superior being in such a way."

I was tempted to say 'So superior that you want to sacrifice a little girl in order to save Yggdrassil's sister?', but I stopped myself and apologized stiffly, "I am sorry, Lord Remiel. I spoke out of turn and out of line." I turned and walked away, not able to take being here anymore. I stepped on the warp pad and headed back towards the ruins.

Once Remiel was through talking to them, everyone else came out behind me.

Lloyd sighed and told me, glaring slightly, "How could you talk to Colette's father like that? What's he ever done to you?"

I told him, "Nothing…yet. Don't worry…" I yawned then finished my sentence, "About it, Lloyd."

Lloyd grumbled but nodded and walked a little ways away from the ruins.

Just then, Colette fell to her knees as we were all walking away from the ruins.

Lloyd noticed her fall and ran over quickly, "Colette?! Are you okay?"

Genis quickly fell into step with Lloyd.

Colette told everyone, "I'm fine. I'm sorry for worrying you."

Genis told her, "You're certainly not fine! Your lips are turning blue….I'm sorry. I'm the one who had her keep pulling her wings in and out."

Lloyd quickly looked to his best friend, "I doubt that has anything to do with it."

This time, I beat Kratos to it and told them, "Didn't Remiel tell you all something about Colette undergoing a trial?"

Raine nodded, "We should get her to a doctor in Triet though…"

Kratos spoke up, "No, we must remain here for the night. The sun is starting to set, and rather than get her to a doctor, this is something that she must make it through on her own."

Liz looked to me, "Are you sure there's not anything I can do? I mean…I can use healing spells too. I don't want her to suffer alone…"

I sighed, "No, Liz, we can't help her. Like Kratos said, this is something she has to face."

Lloyd spoke again, "How can you say something like that, Joanna? She's not going to face it alone. We're all gonna be here to support her!"

I told him, "I know, Lloyd. I didn't mean it that way. I meant this is the kind of pain that no one else will have to bear. Not that I know of anyway." I thought a moment and wondered if Yggdrassil would learn about me and want to make me part of Cruxis because of what I knew about them. It would be the best way to keep me from spreading their real reason for letting Colette take the journey, and to keep me from exposing the truth about Kratos. I guess I would have to find out when the time came.

Kratos nodded his head to show that he had heard and added, "Let's make camp here for the night and let the Chosen rest. Let us hope she is all right by the morning."

I replied, "Yeah, let's hope so. I think she probably will be." Yawning, I lay down in the sand and eventually fell asleep.

Lloyd and the others also went to sleep.

The next morning, we all woke up to an already warm day. I sighed and asked Kratos, "So, how was it?"

He looked to me, "You had a visitor. Yuan came to see you. I'm assuming it has something to do with the things that you know about and that Yggdrassil sent him, though I am not 100 certain. He didn't say anything to me. He just walked over to you, poked you to make sure you were asleep and disappeared again. Other than that, the night was good and peaceful." (A/N: You could poke me with a stick, shout in my ear while I'm asleep and I would never notice.)

I smiled, "Good, and it looks to me like the others are up. I'm glad that they didn't hear all of that. It might confuse them."

Kratos shrugged, "I wouldn't care if they got confused. I wouldn't waste the time explaining either."

I rolled my eyes and shook my head, "See, Kratos? That is why you and Lloyd don't get along. You automatically shut people down and act as if you're superior to everybody. You don't let anybody get past arms length, do you?"

Kratos shook his head, "…Surely you understand, since you know what happened to the last person I let get that close…"

I sighed, "Yes, Kratos, I understand. That doesn't mean I have to like it though…I want to be your friend, I really do."

Lloyd spoke up, yawning a little bit, "Don't even bother, Joanna. Kratos won't let you be his friend. He thinks he's too good for everybody."

Colette smiled, "I consider Kratos a friend, even if he doesn't think of me as one."

I kind of giggled at this, since Kratos probably considered her nothing more than a body for Martel.

Kratos gave a bit of a sigh, nodding to Colette, "Thank you." He replied swiftly then stood up, "I suggest we head for the coast now, to find a ship to take us across the sea."

Raine spoke, "…A ship? We're…we're going on the water?"

I blinked, "Oh yeah…" I knew of Raine's water phobia even if nobody else did.

Genis looked at me, "Oh yeah, what? What is it, Joanna?" He seemed intensely curious about my sudden announcement.

I replied, looking to Raine, who swiftly shook her head, "Just that, uh…if the ship were to tip over, I could help people because I'm a really good swimmer." I smiled.

Raine seemed mildly comforted at this and sighed, "Let's get going then." She turned and walked away.

The rest of us followed her towards the Ossa Trail.

On our way up the trail, a black-haired girl (Sheena) jumped down from a nearby cliff and asked harshly, "Is the Chosen of Mana among you?"

I boldly asked, "What business is it of yours?"

Colette replied, "Its okay, Joanna. I'm the Chosen, lady. What do you want?"

Sheena told her, "Prepare to die!" She lunged at Colette.

Colette tripped over her own feet, falling onto the red switch behind her so that the maintenance passage beneath Sheena opened. This was one time I was thankful for Colette's clumsiness.

Sheena fell into the maintenance passage, after a chorus of uh-ohs from Lloyd, Genis, and Colette.

I couldn't help but giggle at Sheena's predicament, "I think this is one time Colette's clumsiness is a blessing."

Liz nodded, "Yes, clumsiness I guess could be helpful sometimes." She sighed, "Let's continue on the trail. We need to hurry and get to the coast before it's sundown. I'd rather not spend the night in this spooky place."

Lloyd laughed a little, "Still, she's got some bad luck, standing on top of a trapdoor and all."

Raine told him, "It's not a trapdoor. It's a hidden maintenance passage for the trail."

Colette sighed and muttered, "I hope she's okay…"

Lloyd stood up, "I wouldn't worry about it. It looks like she's an enemy."

Kratos told everyone, "Let's get going already. We can't afford to lose a lot of time."

I nodded in agreement and went to stand next to him. I wasn't trying to be cruel or anything, I just wanted to get off this narrow pathway for a change.

Lloyd sighed and nodded, "Yeah, you're right. Let's go."

We continued down the path then after we were off the trail, we headed for the nearby fishing village of Izoold.

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A/N: Sorry this was shorter than I had planned on. I will add Izoold, Palmacosta, the Palmacosta Ranch Part I and Dorr's True Motives next chapter, hopefully. I'm trying to stick pretty close to the game script, but there are subtle changes so that I don't get sued for anything and there is a disclaimer. > Anyways, please review and have a nice day!


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Okay, Chapter 3 is here, finally!

Disclaimer: I own nothing TOS, nor do I own the songs I sing in here. Enjoy!

Fate of the Three Worlds

Chapter 3

Izoold, Palmacosta Ranch: Part 1, Dorr's True Motives

A few hours later, we wound up in the tiny fishing village of Izoold. Looking around, there wasn't much to be seen here, not even in person. Sighing, I looked to Liz, "I'm not sure if we'll find a ship here _fit_ to travel in. This place really looks run down..."

Kratos spoke again, "Relax, Joanna. There are _plenty_ of ships here. We just need to find one that is ready to go out to sea. That won't really be all that difficult. At any rate, we should restock our supplies."

Raine nodded in agreement, "Yes, we may as well do that while we're here. Kratos, why don't you, Joanna, Liz, and Lloyd see to getting us a ship and Genis, Colette and I will fill up on supplies?"

I looked at Raine, "I want to help you Raine. Why doesn't Colette go with Kratos, Liz and Lloyd? Pleeeeease?" I gave her my best puppy dog expression.

Lloyd laughed a bit, then added, "How can you say no to a face like that, Raine? That's so cruel..."

Kratos cracked a rare smile at Lloyd's comment, shaking his head.

Colette smiled, "Come on, Raine. It's fine. I don't mind going with Kratos, if that's really what Joanna wants."

Raine sighed, "All right, Colette, if you're sure, I'll go along with it. What's your opinion, Kratos?"

Kratos replied, "I'll go along with the Chosen's decision as well."

I rolled my eyes at this, not surprised at all. After all, he was supposed to be 'protecting' her.

Genis spoke up, "I wanna go!"

I told Genis, "No...I think it's best if you stay with Raine and me. You might...err, get in the way."

Raine told me, "You're starting to sound like Kratos."

Lloyd couldn't help but burst out laughing at Raine's comment.

I crossed my arms, "Humph. I'm nothing like him. I don't act like I'm all superior to everybody and kill random small animals."

Kratos looked at me, rolling his eyes in annoyance at what I said, "I don't kill small random mammals. I only kill the ones that attack me first. Remember the evil bunnies we had to fight?"

I blinked, then nodded, "Oh yah! I remember...kind of spooky, they were. Anyway, see you guys later." I began to head towards the small shop where the supplies were kept.

Raine and Genis followed me quickly.

Liz called out, "Stay out of trouble."

Smirking, I called back, "Always!"

Kratos, Lloyd, Colette, and Liz went to see about getting us a ship. They talked to several people who mentioned a man named Max who owned a fishing boat. They went to him and Lloyd asked, "Can we borrow your ship to travel across the sea?"

Max looked at Lloyd like he was crazy, "It's not safe to travel the waterways right now. Are you trying to get me killed?"

Colette told him, "I'm the Chosen and I need this boat to help save the world! Please..."

A girl with red hair and rather worn-down looking clothing walked over to them, "What seems to be the trouble, you four?"

Kratos answered, "We need a boat to get to Palmacosta, but Max here won't let us use his to get to where we need to go."

Colette turned to the girl, "Please...I'm the Chosen and really need to use the boat..."

The girl looked at Max, "Let them use the boat, Max. Is there some reason you don't want them too?"

Max replied, "The waterways aren't safe to be traveling on right now, Lyla. You know that."

Lyla sighed, placing her letter to her lover in Lloyd's hand, "I entrust you with this." She turned to Max, "Let them use the boat, Max, or I swear, I'll tell Aifread that you're the most conceited man I know."

Max muttered, "Fine, fine, I'll take them across. Sheesh! Just come back here whenever you guys are ready to go and I'll take you as far as Palmacosta."

Lloyd smiled, "Thanks, Max. We'll see you later. We have to go and round up our friends."

I sighed, "Raine, we should have plenty now. You just bought 10 apple gels to add to the 10 we have and 5 orange gels to add to the 9 we have. That's enough." I whispered to her, "Is it to do with your fear of water?"

Raine blinked then looked at me, "How did you know about that?"

I responded, "Well, you wouldn't have volunteered for the shopping group if you were _looking forward_ to going on the boat, now, would you?" After all, I couldn't tell her that I knew everything about her. That would bring up one too many questions, and I didn't feel like answering any questions.

Raine sighed, "True. Let's go check on Kratos, Liz, Lloyd, and Colette now." I nodded in agreement with her and we headed down to the docks. Genis added, "I hope that they were able to get a good ship! I've always wanted to go out to sea!" He sounded very excited.

I smiled, "You're not like your sister at all then…" I muttered, trying not to laugh at the fact that Genis loved the water while Raine was really afraid of it. I thought that maybe it had something to do with the Otherworldly Gate, but kept my musings to myself. If they found out that I knew about the Otherworldly Gate and that their parents had left them there, many questions would arise from both them and Kratos. Like I said before, I wasn't in the mood to answer questions about what I knew and how I knew it.

At any rate, when we got to the docks, Lloyd, Kratos, Liz, and Colette were waiting for us.

Genis was the first to speak, "So did you find a good boat? Is it really big?"

Colette smiled, "We found a great boat! One that's about to leave actually."

Lloyd replied, "Well, Colette, I wouldn't go right to 'great', but it will work for what we need out of it."

Raine instantly asked, "Is it safe? I mean…there aren't any holes in the deck or damage to it, are there?"

Max answered her, "Missy, you're looking at one of the finest fishing ships in Izoold. It will hold together. Anyway, are you all ready to go now?"

I answered first, "Yes, sir, we are. Take us to Palmacosta!"

Kratos spoke again, "That ship looks very small. Will it be able to hold all of us?"

I gasped, "He speaks!" I feigned surprise at this, which made both Lloyd and Genis laugh.

Kratos merely rolled his eyes in annoyance.

Max answered Kratos's question, ignoring Lloyd's and Genis's laughter, "Yes, it will, provided that two of you don't mind riding in the Crow's Nest."

Kratos spoke again, "Then I will. Comfort is not an issue for me."

I sighed, "And I'll ride up there too."

Lloyd asked, "…Are you sure you want to ride with Kratos? He's a bit…cold."

I replied, smiling, "Don't worry, I'll be fine, Lloyd. If Kratos tries to kill me, I can always just swim for it."

Genis laughed at this, "I doubt he'd try to _kill_ you. You're not that annoying."

Anyway, after a bit of discussion and friendly banter with Lloyd and the others, I climbed into the Crow's Nest with Kratos.

Kratos quietly asked, "Joanna…what do you intend to do with what you know about us and this journey?"

I sighed, "You're a regular killjoy you know that? Anyway, I don't know. I know that I don't plan on getting in Cruxis's way or anything, if that's what you're worried about. I won't tell Lloyd anything about you being his father, or the fact that…mmf!" He had covered up my mouth, so I bit his fingers.

Kratos pulled his hand away, flinching a bit, "…Anyway, don't say anything more the whole way there."

I simply asked him, "Oh, by the way, have you said anything to Lord Yggdrassil about me yet?"

Kratos sighed, "…I have mentioned you, and your friend Liz…but he hasn't really decided what he can do about the two of you. Since you have been around Lloyd and the others, he can't just kill you. That would draw too much attention. On the other hand, he can't just let you run around with what you know. The possibility that our real mission will get out is too large to ignore. For now, he is biding his time while trying to figure out a workable solution to this. Now, be quiet."

I nodded and stayed silent most of the rest of the way.

I heard a splash below, and looked down. Colette was in the water. I laughed a bit, "She must've fallen in. I guess that's our Chosen though, clumsier than my friends Amber and Sarah." (A/n: I have considered adding those two also, they are my newest friends and I spend a lot of time with them now.)

Kratos looked confused, but then shrugged and nodded, "Indeed."

I laughed at his apparent confusion, as my thoughts drifted back home because of thinking of Amber and Sarah. This made me feel terribly homesick and I sighed, looking out over the blue sea.

Kratos said nothing else, thankfully. I was glad he wasn't pressing me about what was bothering me.

When we arrived at Palmacosta, I numbly climbed back onto the deck after Colette, Liz, Genis, Raine, and Kratos already got off. They must've noticed how slow I was, cause Lloyd was still on deck. He asked me, "Joanna, are you okay?"

I looked at him, "Oh, I'm fine. I'm…just a little homesick, that's all."

Lloyd nodded, "I can understand that…I guess." He sighed and looked at the ground. My guess was that he was thinking about all the people in Iselia and the incidents surrounding his banishment.

I placed my hand on his shoulder, "Lloyd, listen to me. It's not anybody's fault what happened in Iselia, okay? You had no choice but to do what you did. Your actions saved countless others from suffering."

Lloyd looked at me, "…But, so many people died…"

I sighed, "I know that, and I'm not saying you should forget them. I'm just saying you should honor their memory by continuing the World Regeneration Journey and doing the best you can to protect Colette."

Genis added his two cents, "Yeah, Lloyd. Let's get going."

Lloyd gave a small smile and a nod, "All right, you two. Let's get moving then."

We all headed out of the docks and into the main town, passing by the market due to the fact that we were still okay for supplies.

Colette spoke again, "Lloyd…thank you for coming along. I'm not sure what I'd do if you weren't here." She smiled at him.

Lloyd shrugged and scratched the back of his neck, slightly flustered by the sudden attention, "Eh, it was nothing…it's not like I had any place to go anyway…"

Colette smiled, and said nothing else. She then spotted a little white dog in the distance and started to run towards it.

I blinked, "Colette, wait!" I ran to catch up to her, and thankfully, I did. However, when I caught up to her, she hadn't been looking where she was going because she was so distracted by the dog and ran into a girl carrying a bottle of Palma Potion. She fell backwards, nearly knocking me over, but I managed to stabilize myself and catch her at the same time, "Whoa Colette. You okay?"

Colette nodded, "I'm fine." She looked at the girl and the broken bottle of potion, "Oh no, I'm sorry!"

A boy with brown hair, ImposterLloyd, yelled at her, "Now look what you've done! You broke our potion! Replace it now!"

I glared at him, "Hey, it was an accident, you jerk! Relax, will ya?"

A few moments later, Kratos and the others came running up behind us.

Raine demanded, "What's going on here?"

Colette replied, "Oh Professor…I didn't mean to do it! I ran into this woman and broke her potion…"

I added, "And now these jerks are trying to get her to replace it."

ImposterGenis spoke, "She has to! It cost us good money to buy that Palma Potion."

ImposterLloyd added, "Yeah, you'd better replace it right now, before we get REALLY mad."

I told everyone, "It was an accident though. She shouldn't have to."

Lloyd glared, "Colette's not buying you anything. Do you have any idea who she is?" His hands were clenched tightly into fists, close to his swords.

Colette walked up to Lloyd and grabbed his arm, "Lloyd, please…just let me replace it. I really don't mind…"

I added, "Yeah…I suppose she could just do it. Let's just let things cool down…please, no fights right now."

Lloyd calmed down, sighing, "Fine, we'll get you the potion."

Kratos nodded, "Indeed…if that will get these strangers to leave the Chosen alone, I will do anything." He had a particularly annoyed expression on his face and his arms were folded across his chest.

Raine sighed, "Fine…but we need to make this quick if we are going to make it to the next seal."

Colette nodded, "Joanna, will you come with me to the shop?"

I blinked, "Oh, um…sure."

Kratos told us, "Don't be long, you two. We have to get to the next seal."

I sighed, "You know, there's no point in Lloyd and the rest of you staying here…what if Lloyd starts a fight or something? Surely you noticed how they were looking at each other…"

Kratos nodded, "All right then, we'll all stick together. Come; let's go get the potion so we can resume the Journey."

Raine nodded in agreement and they headed towards the shops just down the street.

The rest of us followed.

Liz commented, "Those people sure were mean…it's like they were made to irritate us or something."

I couldn't help but giggle slightly at Liz's comment. I then shrugged, "Maybe they're just jealous because we've got the Chosen of Mana on our side." I told her, giving Colette a broad smile.

Colette heard the word 'Chosen' and turned her head, "Oh…yeah, that's probably it." She gave a small smile back, then sighed and looked down.

At that particular moment, I felt very sorry for Colette, because I knew all that was gonna happen to her and all the suffering and pain she would go through. Sighing, I walked up beside her and took her into a hug, "…I'm sorry, Colette."

Colette blinked, "What? What are you sorry for?"

I told her, "For…everything that I'm sure you're going through right now…since you are the Chosen…"

Colette sighed, "It's fine, really. I knew the burden that I would have to bear and the trials I would have to go through from the start." She smiled, "Well, it looks like we're at the right store now. Come on." She headed in and we followed her.

We had been beaten to the store by a couple of Desians though. I gasped a bit, placing my hand over my mouth. Hey, I had to act surprised, otherwise things could get bad. Raine also did, and so did Colette.

Chocolat, the brown-haired shopkeeper's daughter, told the Desians, "No way! No merchants in town are gonna sell anything to you for a price that low! You Desians are a bunch of ripoffs!"

I gulped, glancing over to Lloyd, who was glaring in their direction with his hands clenched into tight fists.

Kratos placed his hand on Lloyd's shoulder to stop him, shaking his head.

The leader of this small group told her, "Fine…we'll just take our business somewhere else, wench! You'll pay for angering the Desians!" They stalked out of the shop, a different one of them shoving me roughly out of the way, right into Kratos.

Kratos managed to keep himself balanced, catching me by the shoulders, surprisingly. Then again, he probably did that so that he would still be okay by Colette since she is the Chosen.

I glared after the offending Desian then sighed, standing up and nodding to Kratos, "Thanks."

Kratos nodded a 'you're welcome' then looked at the disgruntled Chocolat.

Raine walked up to the counter and asked, "Excuse me, ma'am. We've come to get some Palma Potion."

Cacao, the girl's mother, replied, "All right, no problem."

Colette told her, "Please hurry and give it to us…I broke someone else's potion and am supposed to replace it. I'm the Chosen…"

Kratos sighed and shook his head at Colette's words.

Cacao's eyes widened slightly, "Oh…well, in that case, you can have the potion for free, Chosen of Mana." She smiled, "Please, do all you can to save us from the Desians and awaken the goddess Martel." She then handed the bottle of potion to Raine.

Chocolat sighed, "…Goddess Martel. You're really a devout follower of her, aren't you?"

I blinked and looked at her, "…Well yes. What did you expect? She's the Chosen, she's supposed to be."

Cacao sighed, "Chocolat, don't start this again."

Chocolat commented, "But it wasn't the Goddess Martel that saved us from the Desians. It was the Chosen and her friends. How can I believe in a goddess that sleeps while all those people suffer at the ranch?"

Colette gave her whole spiel about the goddess being within each of us.

We then left the shop and got a room at the inn, not too far away from the shop.

Colette spoke, "There is a chapel here. Perhaps the priests will know something about the location of the seal…?"

Yeah, I knew exactly where it was…but this was one where I felt like that they needed to figure it out for themselves. If I told them where all the seals were, Colette would have to suffer sooner, and that was something I didn't want to happen, especially considering that Kratos was going to betray them at the Tower of Salvation.

Raine added, "We'll check with the priests, and then Governor-General Dorr tomorrow. Meanwhile, we should all get some rest." She looked at me, "So, Joanna, where are you going to sleep tonight?"

I answered, "I'll stay with Colette."

Liz added, "Me too."

Kratos nodded, "I will board with Lloyd."

Genis added, "I'm with you, sis."

I didn't find this surprising, considering that they were siblings, not to mention half-elves.

Anyway, we all went to our rooms.

I sat down on the bed and began to sing softly to calm down, a song that I loved dearly and that reminded me a lot of home, Listen to Your Heart by DHT:

_I know there's something in the wake of your smile  
I get a notion from the look in your eyes, yeah  
you've built a love but that love falls apart  
your little piece of heaven turns too dark_

_Listen to your heart  
when he's calling for you  
listen to your heart  
there's nothing else you can do  
I don't know where you're going  
and I don't know why  
but listen to your heart  
before you tell him goodbye_

_Sometimes you wonder if this fight is worthwhile  
the precious moments are all lost in the tide, yeah  
they're swept away and nothing is what it seems  
the feeling of belonging to your dreams_

_listen to your heart  
when he's calling for you  
listen to your heart  
there's nothing else you can do  
I don't know where you're going  
and I don't know why  
but listen to your heart  
before you tell him goodbye _

and there are voices  
that want to be heard  
so much to mention  
but you can't find the words  
the scent of magic  
the beauty that's been  
when love was wilder than the wind

listen to your heart  
when he's calling for you  
listen to your heart  
there's nothing else you can do  
I don't know where you're going  
and I don't know why  
but listen to your heart  
before you tell him goodbye

Listen to your heart...mm..mmm

I don't know where you're going  
and I don't know why  
but listen to your heart  
before you tell him goodbye 

Colette smiled at me with happy tears in her eyes, and told me, "That's a really nice song, Joanna. Where did you hear it?"

I answered, "Oh…I heard it on the radio, and in a few other places too. I like it." I smiled back at her, "We should go to sleep though. I'm sure you don't want to hear me droning on all night."

Raine shrugged, "It's not bothering me. Anyway, I'm going to bed. You girls do as you wish." She walked out of the room and went back to her room.

Lloyd walked in the room, as his room was right next door. He had probably heard me singing, "…Joanna? Was that you singing?"

I nodded, "Yeah…why? Was I terrible?" I asked, laughing a bit at myself.

Lloyd shook his head, "No...It's just the opposite. It was great. Will you sing one more? Please?" (A/n: Honestly, I'm not_ that _great a singer, but I'm probably way better than any of them would be XD, j/k. Kratos and Yuan would probably be great…I considered having them sing something, but I just don't know what they should sing so I would appreciate opinions on this matter.)

I sighed, "If you promise to go to bed after this one. I was going to also. It's getting rather late."

Lloyd nodded, "Fine, fine! Just sing one!"

I nodded back, "Okay then. Relax, Lloyd." Sighing, I shut my eyes and thought fast of a song that I really liked. The first song that came to mind was If Everyone Cared by Nickelback. Considering it a fitting song for the current situation I was in, I started to sing:

_From underneath the trees, we watch the sky  
confusing stars with satellites  
I never dreamed that you'd be mine  
But here we are, we're here tonight _

Singing Amen, I, I'm alive (I'm alive)  
Singing Amen, I, I'm alive

[Chorus:  
If everyone cared and nobody cried  
If everyone loved and nobody lied  
If everyone shared and swallowed their pride  
Then we'd see the day, when nobody died

And I'm singing  
A, Amen I, Amen I, I'm alive  
Amen I, Amen I, Amen I, I'm alive

And in the air the fireflies  
Our only light in paradise  
would show the world they were wrong  
And teach them all to sing along

Singing Amen, I, I'm alive (I'm alive)  
Singing A, Amen, I, I'm alive

[Chorus x2  
If everyone cared and nobody cried  
If everyone loved and nobody lied  
If everyone shared and swallowed their pride  
Then we'd see the day, when nobody died 

_If everyone cared and nobody cried  
If everyone loved and nobody lied  
If everyone shared and swallowed their pride  
Then we'd see the day, when nobody died _

When nobody died...  
ahh ahh...

And as we lie beneath the stars  
We realize how small we are  
If they could love like you and me  
Imagine what the world could be

[Chorus x2  
If everyone cared and nobody cried  
If everyone loved and nobody lied  
If everyone shared and swallowed their pride  
Then we'd see the day, when nobody died

If everyone cared and nobody cried  
If everyone loved and nobody lied  
If everyone shared and swallowed their pride  
Then we'd see the day, when nobody died

We'd see the day, we'd see the day  
When nobody died...  
We'd see the day, we'd see the day  
When nobody died...died...!  
We'd see the day when nobody died 

Colette smiled, "That was a good song, Joanna. Anyway, I'm going to sleep now. Goodnight, Lloyd. Goodnight, Joanna."

I smiled back, her cheerful attitude spreading, "Night."

Colette climbed into bed, humming 'Listen to Your Heart' under her breath.

Lloyd sighed, "Nice, Joanna. Anyway, I'd better be going to bed too. Good night."

I nodded, "Good night, Lloyd."

As Lloyd left, I noticed that Kratos was standing in the doorway, "Oh…hey. I guess…you heard me?"

Kratos nodded, "Of course I did. Nicely done with those. You weren't that bad."

I shrugged, "If you say so. Anyway…" I yawned, "I'd like to sleep now if you don't mind."

Kratos shook his head, "Actually, I do mind. Lord Yggdrassil wants to come and meet you and Liz, to help him to make the decision about what to do about you two."

I sighed, "All right. I'll wake Liz." I got up and went over to the corner where Liz was sleeping, poking her in the sides.

Jumping awake and squeaking, Liz looked up at me tiredly, "What's going on, Jo?"

I answered, "We have an important meeting with someone. Get up."

Yawning and nodding, Liz stood up, looking at Kratos and me, "Was it his idea?"

I shook my head, "No…more like it was his superior's idea."

Liz nodded, "I see. So, let's go meet this guy then."

I turned to Kratos, "We're ready."

Kratos nodded, "Good, then follow me." He led the two of us quietly out of the inn so that we wouldn't wake the others.

Once we got outside, Lord Yggdrassil appeared. I gulped slightly, nervous about meeting the crazy psycho who was responsible for the two-world system.

He spoke, "Ah, here they are. So, Kratos, you said these two know our purpose for the Regeneration Journey, yet they have interacted with Lloyd and the others without revealing this information?"

Kratos nodded, "Yes, Lord Yggdrassil, that is correct."

Mithos smirked, "Well, then they might be of use to me. Or rather, one of them at least. You there, with the short dark brown hair, what is your name?" He looked straight at me as he said this.

I blinked, "I thought Kratos told you. I'm Joanna, Joanna Goff."

Mithos replied, "Very well then, Joanna. I shall make you into an angel. You will help me with my plans; while your friend Liz keeps an eye on the Chosen's group to make sure that they don't stray from the path to Regeneration."

Liz told him, "…Umm, I hope this doesn't seem too forward, Lord Yggdrassil, sir, but Lloyd and Joanna have become good friends. If you keep Joanna away too long, Lloyd will start to get suspicious of Kratos and me. Why don't you let me help you and her help Kratos? Please?"

Mithos considered this for a moment then nodded his head in agreement, "All right very well. But if Joanna shows any sign of warning them of what is to come in Colette's journey, I will have to switch you two. I cannot risk Cruxis being exposed."

I nodded, "I haven't and we're already headed to the Seal of Water. Why would anything change about that just because of how far the Chosen has progressed?"

Kratos spoke again, "Sometimes knowing what is to come can work against you. You will want to prevent certain things from happening." He frowned slightly.

I could only imagine what was going through his mind right now. Betraying Lloyd would not be easy on him, considering that he was his father. I asked, "…Do you really want to go through with it, Kratos?"

Kratos looked directly at me, glaring death, and told me, "I have no choice, Joanna. My path must not change because of a simple piece of information."

I sighed, "All right…so, where is my trial to take place?"

Mithos answered, "Your transformation will take place in the Chapel. No one is there now, as all the priests have gone to bed and the worshippers are done for the day. Come."

Kratos followed him to the chapel, as did Liz and I.

Once we got to the chapel, Mithos opened the door easily and headed inside. I just then noticed that he had a large pebble in his hand. Was this the Aionis that would transform me into an angel? What color would my wings be? Many questions were now running through my mind.

Kratos shoved me forward, as I had stopped in the door and become engrossed in my own thoughts.

I blinked, "Oh…sorry, Kratos." I smiled up at him then looked at Mithos.

Mithos then shoved me against the wall and Kratos held me down as he placed the Aionis stone in my mouth.

It tasted terrible, like days-old coffee mixed with a rotten banana.

Next moment, I started to feel terrible pains in my body because of the transformation. I screamed in agony and tensed against Mithos and Kratos, shaking like a leaf and sweating enough to fill a small pond, "W-why?" was all I could choke out.

Mithos answered me, "Because it is the only way we can track you."

Kratos gave me a…what was that...sympathetic look? Wow…well, he's been through the transformation too, and he was once human, so he sort of understood what I was going through.

I nodded my head numbly and screamed again as pain coursed throughout my body. I soon blacked out.

When I woke up again, I was lying down at the inn in Palmacosta, with Raine and Kratos standing over me. Blinking, I asked Kratos, "How long was I out?"

He answered, "You've been unconscious for the past 7 hours. Are you feeling better?"

I shrugged, "Relatively speaking. I just feel a little strange…and I feel something heavy on my hand. What is it?"  
Kratos leaned forward a bit and whispered in my ear, "A Cruxis Crystal. I put it on you once you passed out. I put the Rune Crest on first though, so you don't need to worry about anything. I'll let you stretch your wings once the others have gone to sleep."

Lloyd came in the next moment, looking worried. When he saw me awake, he smiled, "Hey, Joanna. How are you feeling?"

I smiled, "Fine now. I think we can safely continue to the chapel and to speak to Governor General Dorr now."

Colette ran in too, "Are you sure you feel up to it, Joanna? I mean…I don't want you to hurt yourself or anything…" Poor Colette…she was too kind for her own good sometimes.

I nodded, "I'm fine, really. Stop fretting over me, I'll be okay."

Genis was standing in the doorway and nodded, "Okay, you guys. She said she'll be fine so she'll probably be fine. Let's get going."

Raine added, "Good point, Genis." She walked over, "If we're going to go to the next seal, we do need to get moving."

Kratos looked at me, "Can you stand?"

I smirked, "Yeah, of course. Since when did you worry about me, though?"

Kratos sighed and whispered in my ear, "Since Lord Yggdrassil made you one of us."

Sighing, I stood up, still slightly shaky on my feet, "Oh, okay."

Kratos steadied me and looked at the others, "You go on out. We'll be out in a moment."

Lloyd blinked, then nodded and went outside with Genis, Colette, and Raine.

Kratos looked at me, "Are you sure you can continue with us? The transformation is a long and painful process."

I responded, "Yes, I can. A little pain isn't anything I can't take." I then smiled, "But thank you for worrying about me."

Kratos nodded his head, "Come on." He said simply, leading me outside.

I followed without saying another word.

Lloyd noticed my silence as I came out the door. He didn't say anything as I walked past him, but he then asked Kratos, "…Kratos? Is she really gonna be okay? I mean…she seemed to be in a lot of pain earlier…"

Kratos responded, "She will be fine, Lloyd. We should be more concerned about Colette."

Colette noticed my silence as well and asked, "Joanna…is something bothering you?"

I smirked. If only I could let her know what she was getting herself into…but I couldn't. If I did, I would be as good as dead. Sighing, I told her, "I'm fine. I'm just sort of dreading the next seal for you, that's all. I mean…you don't even know what does gonna happen there, do you?"

Colette sighed and shook her head, "No…I don't but I can keep a positive attitude about it. At least I'll get to see my father, Remiel, again."

I was shaking slightly in anger, because I knew the truth about Remiel, but could not say anything to Colette about it. Sighing and calming down again, I nodded, "Yeah, true."

We soon got to the chapel…the same place where I had been given the Aionis stone and Cruxis Crystal. Sighing, I stood outside the door, "Umm…Colette, Lloyd, Genis…would you guys care if I stay out here?"

Lloyd blinked and turned to look at me, "There any reason you don't want to come in?"

Kratos sighed, "…She's probably thinking about something that happened here in her past. We'd best let her do as she wishes."

Raine nodded, "Very well, Joanna. You can stay here and we'll go talk to the priests." She and everyone else followed Kratos into the chapel.

Once they came out again, I sighed, "So, did you find out anything?"

Colette nodded, "Mmhmm. We found out that Governor-General Dorr has a Book of Regeneration that shows where all the seals are. We're going to see him now. Coming with us?"

I responded, "Yep." I grinned up at Kratos, who rolled his eyes.

Anyway, we all went to the Governor-General's mansion and went inside, walking right past the guards without them even stopping us.

Lloyd was the first to speak once we got inside, "Governor-General Dorr, we were told that you have some valuable information relating to the Mana seals. Can we take a look at your Book of Regeneration?"

Kratos added his two cents, surprisingly, "Make it quick. We are the Chosen's group."

Neil stood up, "That's impossible! The Chosen's group has already come by here. You must be imposters! Guards!"

The guards from outside and quite a few others stormed in, their spears pointing directly at us.

Kratos narrowed his eyes, his hand resting on the hilt of his sword.

Just then, Colette tripped on air and her wings came out.

Kilia (or maybe it was the demon/half-elf servant of Pronyma at this point, I couldn't be sure) spoke, "Father! Look, she's got wings, just like an angel! She has to be the Chosen!"

Dorr spoke, "Drop your weapons!"

The guards obliged and returned their spears to the stationary position at their sides.

Colette turned around to face the Governor-General.

Dorr then told her, "My apologies, Chosen of Mana. We heard that the Chosen's group was coming to Palmacosta…and gave them to the first travelers we saw."

I gasped, "So…you gave them to those imposters?!"

Neil sighed, "Yes…we're sorry. We didn't think that…"

Genis cut him off, "I can't believe this! Do you use your eyes at all or are they just there for decoration?"

I couldn't help but giggle at Genis's choice of words.

Lloyd sighed, "Just great…now what are we supposed to do?"  
I looked to Kratos, whispering, "I know where the seal is…but…won't that make Colette suffer sooner?"

Dorr told Lloyd, "I heard that the other group of travelers is heading to Hakonesia Peak."

Kratos muttered, "If you know where the seal is, then you may as well tell the others. Otherwise, they may go after the imposters and we don't want anymore trouble than we absolutely have to deal with."

I sighed, "All right." I told Lloyd and the others, "Guys, I need to talk to all of you about the seals. I know where the next one is."

Genis blinked, "Oh…well then, let's go." He walked out then gasped as he saw Magnius about to kill Cacao, "Guys! Guys! You've gotta hurry! Cacao's about to be hanged!"

Raine gasped, "What?!" She dashed out the door.

Shrugging, I followed her.

Everyone else came out behind me.

We got out just in time to see Magnius go after the child who was throwing rocks at him.

Lloyd glared, "Oh no, you don't!" He ran out into the middle of the square and 'Demon Fang'-ed Magnius.

Magnius grunted, "Who? Which one of you worthless vermin did that?"

Raine walked over to Lloyd, "Lloyd, are you sure you want to go through with this? This might end up being the next Iselia…"

Lloyd shook his head, "It's different this time. These people don't have a non-aggression treaty with the Desians. How are we supposed to save the world, if we can't even save the people right in front of us?"

Colette nodded and walked over to Lloyd, standing behind him, "I agree with Lloyd. We have to stop this."

Magnius growled, "Enough of this crap!"

Hearing that line made me think of the "Messing With Tales of Symphonia" series of videos on YouTube and I couldn't help but giggle under my breath.

Magnius then signaled for one of the other Desians present to release the trapdoor underneath Cacao's feet, beginning her execution.

Colette gasped, "No!" She threw her chakram at the rope holding Cacao up, cutting it so that she landed neatly under the platform. Her hands were still bound, but at least she wouldn't choke to death.

Magnius growled, "You…pathetic little vermin! How dare you interfere with me?!"

Lloyd replied, "That's not all, Magnius! Demon Fang!"

Magnius crouched down to one knee, "Ugh…"

Kratos dashed over to him, and cut him on the arm, "Let us respect the wishes of the Chosen."

Magnius growled, "Damn you, worthless idiots! Get them! I shall leave now." He did that weird 'disappearing' thing that all the Desian Grand Cardinals somehow managed to do, also taking two of the spell casters.

One of the two spell casters that had been left behind cast Fire Ball at our group, probably too fast for Kratos to be able to block. He nimbly dodged it though.

Genis came running up and stood in front of Lloyd and Colette, "Force Field!" The green bubble of mana came up and protected him and the other two. The shield faded after the Fire Ball had dissipated. He then stood up and started to walk away, eyes closed, "Amateurs…"

I smiled, "Heh…nice, Genis."

Lloyd's eyes followed Genis for a moment, and then he looked back at the remaining Desians, "Let's teach them a lesson!"

I added, "Yeah, let's pwn them!"

Colette looked at me, confused, "Pwn? What does that mean?"

I responded, "Oh, it basically means you totally annihilate them." I took out my bow, my wrist feeling much better now. I nocked an arrow onto the string, "Everyone ready?"

Genis nodded, taking out his kendama and preparing a spell already.

Colette blinked, still not really understanding, "…Okay." She looked back at the Desians, "Let's do this!" She took out her chakrams.

Kratos had already killed two of the five Desians that had been left behind. He looked to Colette and the rest of us, nodding. It was as if he was granting us permission to kill the rest of the group of the Desians…nice.

Anyway, I let loose an arrow and killed another Desian, leaving two for Colette, Lloyd, and Genis.

Genis called out, "Lightning!"

The Desian that he had targeted with the spell fell back, hit with surprising force. The Whipmaster then growled, got up, and went after Genis.

Lloyd glared, "Oh no, you don't! Sonic Thrust!" He killed the Desian, leaving one more.

The one that was left was a spell caster, and a pretty smart one at that. He had put some distance between our small group and himself, to give himself some time for a spell. He cast Icicle on Kratos.

Kratos grunted slightly as the small peaks of ice skewered his right arm, but he still managed to hold onto his sword.

Genis asked, "Take me on with magic? I don't think so, buddy!" He began to prepare a spell, surrounded by brown runes on the ground, and then shouted, "Stone Blast!"

Raine faced Kratos, preparing a healing spell. There were white runes on the ground beneath her. She then shouted, "First Aid!" The wounds on Kratos's arm from the Icicle spell healed up.

The remaining Desian spell caster was finally killed by Lloyd, who finished him off with a Sonic Thrust.

I nodded, "Nicely done, Lloyd."

Lloyd smirked, "It just wasn't their day."

Kratos rolled his eyes, then added, "Lloyd…if we're going to strike the Desians, we should do so decisively."

Raine nodded, "He's right."

I added my two cents, "…I think the best way to do that would be to strike down the Palmacosta Ranch and then go on to the Seal." I looked at Kratos, "That…is acceptable, right?"

Kratos sighed, "…I guess." He whispered in my ear, "It is one of the less productive ranches that Lord Yggdrassil owns anyway. He won't notice that it's gone."

I answered just as quietly, "Good."

Lloyd yelled, "Yeah, we're going to destroy all the Desians! The entire ranch!"  
Colette nodded, "Right. We're going to save all the people that were…" She was cut off, shoved to the ground from behind by ImposterLloyd.

Lloyd glared at the Imposter, "Hey! Watch what you're doing, jerk! You could've really hurt Colette!"

I looked at Colette, "Are you okay?"

Colette responded, "I'm fine. Oh, here." She took the Palma Potion out of her pocket and handed it to the poser.

ImposterLloyd smiled, "Well now, you're not such a bad kid after all." He looked to the rest of his group, "Let's go sell that thing now."

ImposterGenis nodded, "Right."

The 'imposter Chosen's' group walked out of the city.

I sighed, "Well…are we going to the ranch or what?"

Lloyd nodded, "Right. Come on, everyone! We'll show those Desians!" He threw his fist in the air.

Genis laughed a bit then nodded, throwing his fist in the air too, "Yeah, I'll burn them to oblivion!"

Kratos added, "I hope you'll be able to maintain that enthusiasm."

I couldn't help but laugh a bit and responded, "He'll get bored with it five minutes after we get there."

Lloyd crossed his arms in mock offense, "Hey!"

Genis smirked, "Heh…but it's so true Lloyd. You have the attention span of a three-year-old."

Raine sighed, "Whatever, let's get going to the ranch before any more people are taken there…"

Just then, the little boy from earlier came running up to us, "E-excuse me, everyone."

I looked down at the small boy, "What's up?"

The boy replied, "…Miss Chocolat's been taken to the ranch! Please, you have to save her!"

Lloyd replied, "…This is bad."

Kratos sighed, "…We should first check out the situation there. Perhaps it's not as bad as we think. This city does have a militia."

Another man standing behind us told him, "Yes…but they'll be too busy to free Chocolat. Please, you must help her!"

I replied, "Kratos is right though. We should check out the situation there, so that we know how well it's guarded and everything."

Raine looked at me with amazement, "Wow…we have more than two logical thinkers in the group now." Her eyes glazed over slightly, as if she was about to go into Ruin-mode.

I blinked, getting a slightly flabbergasted and scared expression on my face, "…Raine, it's no big deal. Any person with a working brain knows that."

Lloyd smiled, "Yeah…wait, what?"

That there set me off and I began laughing at Lloyd's naïveté.

Kratos rolled his eyes and said, "Let's get going."

With no further ado, we went to the ranch, stopping in the woods outside of it in order to hide from the guards.

I whispered, "…It looks really well guarded. Are you sure we'll be able to get inside?"

Just then, Neil walked up from behind us, obviously having just come from the city, "The city militia's getting ready to move out for this place to help free the prisoners. You should head out of this region and proceed to the next seal, Chosen of Mana. We've also heard some rumors spreading about the Governor-General's allegiances. We would appreciate it if you could help shed light on who he is really serving."

Lloyd got an incredulous look on his face, "What? No, we can't just leave Chocolat in the hands of those filthy Desians!"

Kratos sighed, "…Neil is right. We should leave this place in the hands of the militia. The next seal takes top priority over this. We are supposed to release the seals, not help every troubled town that we encounter."

Raine added, "I will go with whatever the Chosen decides, but personally, I think we should check out Governor-General Dorr to see where his heart truly lies."

Colette shook her head, "No, we're not leaving! The Regeneration Journey and saving these people are not mutually exclusive of each other!"

I blinked, "So…what are you suggesting, Colette?"

Colette replied, "I'm saying we should go back to the city and find out where Dorr's heart truly is, then come back here and save the people, and then go to the Seal of Water." She looked at me, "You do know where it is, right?"

I smiled, "Yeah, that's true. All right, Colette."

Kratos nodded, "If that is what the Chosen decides, then I will not argue with it."

I smiled, "Aww…you're so sweet, Kratos." I was joking, of course.

Lloyd couldn't help but laugh at my comment then said, "Okay then, so…we're going to the city, then coming back here, right?"

Colette smiled, "Yep." She looked at Neil, "That is okay, isn't it?"

Neil responded, "That is just fine. We will wait for you here."

Anyway, after the bit of a chat with Neil, we went back to the city, heading to Governor-General Dorr's mansion.

I sighed, as I already knew where his loyalties were, but otherwise remained silent.

Raine was the first to notice my silence and slowed down a bit to let me catch up with her, "Is something bothering you?"

I shook my head, "No…it's nothing that you need to worry about, Raine."

Raine shrugged and caught back up with the others.

We arrived at the governor's mansion and no one was in the front room.

Colette then said, "I hear voices…coming from below."

Lloyd blinked, "Really? I don't hear anything."

Kratos nodded, "I concur. We should check out the basement."

I added, "Yeah, I heard them too." This really surprised me because before the Angel transformation, I could only hear sounds that were on the same level as I was, unless it was a really loud sound like a BANG or something.

Anyway, we headed down to the basement, and Kratos '!'-ed upon seeing the Governor-General speaking with what appeared to be a very important Desian. We all took different hiding places in order to find out why he was speaking with the Desian.

Dorr asked, "When will my wife…when will Clara return to her original form?"

The Desian responded, "Not yet. You still haven't paid us enough Gald. You've been paying us less and less."

Dorr replied, "This is the best I can do! The municipal taxes, the offerings to the Church of Martel, there's nowhere left to squeeze more money from!"

The Desian told him, "Well, I guess this will have to do, for today. I'm sure Lord Magnius will appreciate your contribution." He then disappeared.

Kilia told Dorr, "Father…"

Dorr responded, "Just a little more…just a little bit longer and Clara will return to normal."

Lloyd ran out of his hiding place, flabbergasted, "You've been working for the Desians all along?! I can't believe this!"

Dorr looked confused, "What the hell? Who are all of you?"

Lloyd asked, "What's the matter? You look like you just saw a ghost or something."

Genis commented, "Umm…Lloyd that is really a very clichéd line."

Lloyd looked back at him, "Oh shut it, Genis!"

Dorr then spoke again, "What are you all doing here?! Where's Neil?"

Raine replied, "I'm afraid Neil is not here."

Dorr responded, "I see…so you all betrayed me."

Lloyd spoke again, "What happened to your wife? Has she been taken hostage or something?"

Dorr shook his head, "No…if you want to see my wife…" He walked over to the cell he was standing in front of and removed the sheet covering it. Inside a horribly disfigured monster was there, "She's right here!"

Kratos gasped.

Genis started to get a little scared and said, "Aah! What….what is that monster thing?"

Colette told Genis, "She's…she's crying. She's crying in pain. Don't call her a monster, Genis."

Lloyd looked to Dorr again and stated, "…You don't mean…"

Dorr answered him, "That is exactly what I mean. This is what's become of my wife, Clara."

Raine nodded her head and added, "So…that's why you told everyone that she had died."

I responded, "Yeah…if I had someone that close to me turned into a monster, I would consider them to be dead to me as well…" I glanced to Kratos, wondering if he was thinking about the day he had killed Anna because of seeing the transformed Clara.

Dorr spoke again, "My father, the previous Governor-General, was a good-for-nothing fool. Because of his defiant stance with the Desians, they killed him. They then planted a demon seed within Clara as a warning to those who might oppose him. If I stay loyal to them and keep cooperating, they will give me medicine that will save her."

Genis spoke again, "But that means that you're betraying the people that you're supposed to be serving and protecting! The people of this city are you're first and foremost responsibility!"

Dorr replied, "So what?! It's the only way I can save Clara! All of this for nothing…because of you people and your stand against the Desians! We'll never escape the rule of the Desians, no matter what anyone does."

Lloyd glared daggers at Dorr, "Stop talking like you're the only one who's suffering because of the Desians! I'm sorry about what happened to your wife, but think of everyone who believed in you. They got sent off to the ranch because of your actions! Any of them might have wound up just like Clara." He then added, "Colette will…the Chosen will save the world!"

Dorr glared right back at him and said, "The Journey of World Regeneration is not absolute. Don't forget the last one ended in failure, and be quiet, fool! Stop acting like your justice is absolute!"

Lloyd was really annoyed by this point and responded, "Where do you get off? Don't even start spewing the word 'justice'! I hate that word! If you wanted to save her, you should have resigned your position and searched for a cure! You're a worthless jerk who couldn't give up his social status even for his own wife!"

I nodded in agreement with Lloyd, "Well said, Lloyd."

Lloyd shrugged, waiting for Dorr's response.

Colette finally spoke again and told Lloyd, "Stop this, Lloyd! Not everyone is strong enough to defy the Desians! Please, just stop!" She pleaded.

Lloyd blinked, looking back at the blonde Chosen, "Colette…"

Colette looked to Dorr, "What if we go and get the medicine you mentioned? Then you wouldn't have to help the Desians anymore."

Dorr asked, "You…forgive me for everything I did?"

Colette answered him, "It's not our place to do that. Only the people of the city can. But I know Martel will forgive you. The Goddess Martel is always within you, awaiting your own, personal regeneration."

Dorr looked confused, "Within me? What do you mean by that, Chosen?"

Kilia replied, "That's absurd!" She walked up behind Dorr and stabbed him in the back and added, "The Goddess Martel would never lend her aid to an inferior human being!"  
Lloyd looked a bit surprised, "What the heck are you doing?!"

.Genis looked at Kilia, surprised, "How could you do something like that to your own dad?!"

Kilia giggled then replied, "…Yeah, right. That's a laugh."

She turned into her true demonic form and said, "I am Kilia, a servant of Pronyma, leader of the Five Grand Cardinals. I was merely assigned to observe the new human cultivation technique. There's absolutely no way that a half-elf such as I, would have such a foolish father as this!"

Colette gasped then replied, "A…foolish father? How was Governor-General Dorr a fool?"

Kilia answered her question right away, "Well, look at him! He didn't even notice that his own daughter was dead. He was too busy chasing after medicine that doesn't exist…in order to save his monster wife!"

I replied, "And you're a sadistic freak!"

Ignoring my comment, Lloyd glared at Kilia and said, "You…!"

Colette asked her, "How could you kill a child?!"

Immediately, Lloyd took out his swords and we began fighting Kilia.

After many rounds of healing by Raine, Fire Arrows by me (A/N: a skill I learned thanks to Kratos the night before we got here), Demon Fangs, Sonic Thrusts, and all sorts of interesting combination attacks (A/N: My favorite one was Demonic Flare, a combination of my Fire Arrow and Lloyd's Demon Fang…basically, I fire two superheated, Fire arrows at Lloyd's swords and set them ablaze), we finally defeated her.

Sighing in relief, I put my bow away. Boy that was one exhausting battle. Thinking forward to the Tower of Salvation, I couldn't help but wonder if Kratos was going to attack me or leave me alone there…

The defeated Kilia, on her last leg of life, muttered, "…There's…no way…Fine, I'll set the monster Clara free and let it kill every single one of you." She used her ugly nail as a sort of key and unlocked the cell, setting the mutated Clara free.

Gulping, I took a couple of steps back, "…This can't be good…"

Lloyd got a hopeless look on his face and asked, "…Not again. Please don't tell me I have to kill another innocent victim…"

The mutated Clara was about to swipe at Lloyd, but Colette stopped her, saying, "Stop, Clara!"

The transformed Clara resisted and fled the scene.

Genis called after her, "Hey! Wait!"

Dorr spoke again, weakly, "…Is my daughter…is she really dead?"

Before anyone could say anything, I knelt down to the dying Governor-General and told him, "Yes…she is. I'm sorry."

Lloyd added, "But don't worry…we'll try to find a way to save your wife."

Genis gave him a flabbergasted look, "Lloyd…"

Dorr responded, "I see…so, your name is Lloyd then."

Lloyd replied, "Yeah…"

Colette was looking panicked and told Raine, "Professor Sage, please….save him!"

Raine did the best that she could to heal Dorr, but to no avail. She stood back up and turned around, shaking her head.

Dorr told Lloyd, "Please…save…Chocolat. It's my fault that poor girl was captured as a part of a trap for the Chosen…" He handed Lloyd a card key and added, "If you somehow find a way to save my wife…please, help her return to her human form. The pass code for the ranch is 3341."

Lloyd nodded, "Okay, I promise I'll save them."

Dorr spoke his final words, "Thank…you…" He then died right there in front of us.

Okay, I've seen dead people before…and I've seen death on television and everything, but nothing would've prepared me for this. I got a slightly uncomfortable knot in my stomach at the sight of the dead man.

Kratos finally spoke again, "We should get moving."

Lloyd looked back at Kratos, "…Kratos! How can you just say something like that?!"

Kratos sighed, "Calm down, Lloyd. What is it that we have to do?"

Raine answered him, "Rescue Chocolat, then defeat Magnius and destroy the ranch."

Kratos responded, "Exactly."

Lloyd sighed, calming down, "Yeah…I know. You guys are right, I'm sorry."

I smiled, "It's okay, Lloyd. …You're just worked up because another person's life has been screwed up by the Desians, right?"

Lloyd nodded, "Yeah…something like that. You heard about Mom, I guess?"

I replied, "Yeah, I heard…"

Genis spoke again, "Enough, you two. Let's go and defeat the Desians now."

Raine muttered to herself, "Am I unable to save a single life with my healing arts?"

I smiled at her, having heard her, "What are you talking about, Raine? You're a great healer. Dorr…was just beyond your help."

Colette hadn't heard her, but turned and nodded since she heard what I had said, "Joanna's right. You're a great healer and person, Raine. Don't ever doubt yourself."

I looked at Colette, "Coming from someone who doesn't consider herself very Chosen-like." I then added, "But you are very Chosen-like, in more ways than you know." I then smiled at the two.

We returned to the ranch to meet Neil.

Neil told us, "…Don't say anything. From the looks on everyone's faces, I can tell that something terrible has happened to Governor-General Dorr."

Colette added, "But he did say that we are supposed to save Chocolat."

Neil nodded, "I understand. Please take me along with you so that I can help you carry out his last wish."

Lloyd told him, "Okay."

Raine sighed and commented, "Anyway, we should try to find a place to use the key that the Governor-General gave us."

Genis added, "You know…even if we can get the door open and get inside, I don't think we're going to be able to just go in and out as we please."

Kratos nodded in agreement, "He's right. We should be properly prepared before taking any action."

* * *

A/N: Very long chapter…but anyway, it's finally done! Next chapter will consist of Inside Palmacosta Human Ranch and the Seal of Water. This is taking much longer than I planned on. Also, please tell me if I should insert my friends Amber and Sarah. As I said, they are clumsy, so it might be more interesting if we had more than just one clumsy person. Lol, anyways, please review and I will add next chapter as soon as I can. 


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: see Chapter 1

Tales of Symphonia: Fate of the Three Worlds

Chapter 4

More Friends Arrive and Inside Palmacosta Ranch

I sighed quietly as I watched Lloyd, Genis, and Raine eat. For some strange reason, I had no appetite whatsoever. It probably had to do with turning into an angel. Let's see...Colette had lost the need to eat also, but probably I wouldn't be able to sleep tonight either, because I didn't feel the least bit tired. Colette would probably still sleep, but after the Seal of Water, she wouldn't be able to. She had barely touched her food and it was sitting in front of her.

Kratos spoke, "Hurry it up, you three. We need to get moving if we're going to break into the ranch."

Raine nodded and finished her food, "I'm ready."

Lloyd finished up as well, swallowing the food in his mouth, "Same here, ready to go." He looked at both Colette and me, obviously concerned, "Joanna, you didn't eat anything, and Colette, you barely ate. Are you two okay?"

I replied, "I'm fine Lloyd, I just wasn't hungry." I smiled at him, so he wouldn't be worried.

Colette lied, "I guess..I guess I didn't have much of an appetite either." She did that little fake giggle and I sighed.

Lloyd sighed, "Colette, you won't be able to stay strong if you don't eat anything. Same goes for you, Joanna."

I responded, "Lloyd, she said she got enough, so just let it go. I know you're worried about her, but you shouldn't pester her. If she needs to eat anything else, she'll let us know...or her stomach will. Lloyd, shut up about me. I know my limits, thank you very much and don't need someone four years younger than me telling me what to do."

Genis nodded, "Yeah, she makes good points, Lloyd. Come on, let's head in to the ranch now."

Kratos nodded also, "Yes, we should get going to rescue the girl." He raised an eyebrow at me, but didn't say anything else. He walked around, looking for an entrance that had a keypad where we could put in the number that Dorr had given us before his death.

Lloyd blinked, "Hey, guys! I found a keypad over here!"

I replied, "Good work, Lloyd. Do you remember the numbers?"

Lloyd looked back at me, "Well, yeah...they were given to me by a dying man, so how could I forget it just like that?"

I sighed, "Very good point, Lloyd. Put them in already." Next moment, Kratos tensed and drew his blade.

I blinked, "...Kratos? What's up? Is someone trying to hurt us?" Little did I know that this was going to be the last sentence I was going to be able to speak for a while.

Kratos responded, "I heard footsteps, and two feminine voices. Everyone be on your guard."

I nodded and tried to say, "Okay", but no sound came out of my mouth. I inhaled sharply in surprise. My voice was gone! Oh, the woes of the angel transformation...

Lloyd blinked, having heard my sharp intake of breath, "Umm...Joanna, are you okay?"

Raine spoke, "I would gather that she has lost the ability to speak."

Colette asked, "Is that why you're not talking now?"

I grabbed a piece of parchment and a pen from one of Noishe's bags, then patted him on the head, a silent way of telling him to go or he would be instantly recognized and draw attention to us. I then wrote on the parchment, 'Yes, that's why I'm not talking. Why don't we just go inside now and help Chocolat? Not being able to speak is only an inconvenience. Not to mention that we should be quiet if we don't want to get caught.' I then handed the parchment to Kratos.

Kratos read it aloud to the others, then nodded, "I agree. Her being mute might actually work in our favor."

Lloyd nodded, "Okay then...I guess we go rescue Chocolat." He put the Key Card in and typed in the numbers.  
As we started to head into the ranch, I heard running footsteps behind me and turned. There stood my friends Amber and Sarah. _How in the world?_ I thought to myself.

Amber smiled, "Joanna! Wow, I wasn't expecting to see you here. What's going on?"

Wow, now I really missed being able to talk. I sighed and grabbed her hand, writing on her palm, 'I'm going to help Kratos and the others rescue a girl from this Human Ranch here. How did you and Sarah get here?'

Sarah had been looking over Amber's shoulder and told me, "We're not really sure. That last time we saw you, you did look a bit changed. Anyway, who are you going to rescue and why can't you talk?"

I wrote on her palm, 'It's part of becoming an angel, unfortunately, and I'm going to rescue a kidnapped tour guide named Chocolat, along with Kratos and the others.'

Amber's eyes widened for a brief instant, then she replied, "Hold on...Kratos...as in the guy that you wrote the story about from that video game, Tales of Symphonia?"

I nodded to confirm what she had said.

Sarah sighed, "Well, we don't know anything about it, so...can we come with you? I hate to be out here without someone to protect me."

I sighed and nodded my head. I wrote on her palm, 'Fine, just stay close to me and be EXTREMELY quiet. One sound out of you and I'll make you guys wait out here.'

Amber smiled, "We'll be as quiet as mice. Let's go."

I nodded and we headed inside, following the way that Kratos and the others had gone.

We caught up with them not too much later and I did a 'library clap' (A/N: You take the forefinger and middle fingers of both hands and clap them together...it's quieter than a normal clap) to get their attention.

Kratos heard this slight sound and turned to me, quietly saying, "There you are. Who are those two?" He asked, looking at Amber and Sarah suspiciously.

I wrote on his palm, 'These are my friends, Amber and Sarah. Don't worry, they only know what I've told them about you, and they don't know anything about the Journey or its true purpose.'

Kratos nodded, "Very well then...they may join our group if the Chosen allows it. As long as they don't get in the way."

Amber replied quietly, "Oh, we won't, Kratos. Anyway, where is this girl we're supposed to rescue?"

Lloyd responded quietly from behind Kratos, "Chocolat is somewhere here in the ranch. We have to find her and rescue her."

Nodding, Amber and Sarah both fell silent and looked at Kratos.

I wrote on Kratos's palm, 'Let's get going. I think Lloyd is getting impatient.'

Kratos nodded back and continued through the ranch.

Amber, Sarah, and I followed without another word.

A few hours later, we came upon some of the prisoners from Luin, as well as a couple of people from Palmacosta. After Raine powered down the locks to the doors using a nearby computer console, all of the prisoners filtered out, following Neil to the exit.

One boy walked over to Lloyd, holding something in his hand. He told him, "The guards were treating that card like it was really important." He handed it to Lloyd and followed Neil and the rest of the prisoners.

I wrote on Lloyd's hand, 'We should be able to find Chocolat now.' I knew the layout of the ranch from playing the video game so often, but I didn't say anything about that, obviously.

Lloyd nodded, "Yeah...but what does this card thing do?"

I sighed, annoyed with his short attention span. I looked to Kratos.

Kratos replied, "It likely operates some kind of machinery in here. We should look for more of these cards."

After getting the Purple Card from fighting a few Desians, and the Red Card from a high place that Colette had to fly to retrieve it, we walked through a doorway we hadn't been through yet.

We saw a warp pad with small slots in the bottom of it. The colors of the slots corresponded with the colors of the cards.

I smiled and wrote in the air, 'All right. Now we should be able to find Chocolat. Everyone follow me.'

Kratos asked, "Do you know where this teleporter goes and which ways to go when we arrive at our destination?"

I nodded, then sighed and shook my head. I was in no mood to explain how I knew it...and not that I really could since I couldn't talk. Anyway, I put the cards into the slots, and the teleporter roared to life.

Raine gasped, "This is...marvelous!"

I sighed and looked down at the floor, _Great, Ruin Mode..._. I thought to myself.

Colette spoke, "Professor, let's go through the teleporter now. We don't have time for you to take it apart and study it."

I gave Colette a grateful smile, then stepped aside to let the only other girls in the group go through it first.

After Colette and Raine went through, I stepped onto the pad, following them.

Lloyd came shortly after me, and Kratos followed him.

We found ourself in a maze-like passageway with passages leading left, right, and straight ahead. I struggled to remember the way for a moment, then smirked and nodded, writing in the air, 'We go left here, I believe. If I'm wrong, we'll just wind up right back here.'

Kratos nodded and led the way left, stepping onto the warp pad.

I followed him silently.

Colette and the others followed.

Sighing, and glad that I had remembered the layout and where each warp led, we made our way through the maze of warps and eventually found Chocolat again.

I thought to myself, _She must've found an alternative route without having to use the icky warp pads. I should've followed her..._

Chocolat said, "All right, here it is. I don't know if it's the control room or not, but after you take this pad, you'll end up in a room filled with lights, and all sorts of shiny things."

Raine's eyes visibly lit up after hearing this.

Sighing, Lloyd said, "All right then, now we bring the fight to Magnius, right?"

I nodded my head in agreement.

Kratos responded, "Indeed."

With no further ado, he stepped onto the final warp pad that led to the control room and Magnius.

Quivering lightly, I turned to Amber and Sarah, and wrote on Amber's hand, 'You two should wait here.'

Sarah had seen me do that and asked, "Why? What's past this warp thing? We already rescued Chocolat anyway, so we will, but...I just want to know why you can go and we can't."

I sighed and wrote on her hand, 'It is too dangerous for you two. Magnius is really strong and you two don't have any weapons. Just stay here and wait for us. We should be back.'

Amber nodded, "Good luck then, and be careful. We don't want to see you get hurt"

I smiled and nodded and stepped into the warp pad, writing in the air, 'I'll be fine. I have Kratos and Lloyd looking out for me. Bye.'

Once we arrived in the control room, a voice spoke from above us, "So...the forsaken Chosen and her entourage of vermin have finally arrived."

Next moment, a blue tube-like thing came down from a little crevice in the ceiling and Magnius lowered his chair-thing down to our level. During this, Kratos said, "For...saken?"

Lloyd added, "You've got it really mixed up, Magnius. You're the one that's forsaken."

Magnius gave a wicked cackle, then added, "Everything you've done is meaningless! And don't think I don't know about those inferior beings trying to escape." He pressed a little button and Neil and the prisoners we had helped free appeared on a display in front of us.

I glared, clenching my fist and shaking it at him. I HATED not being able to talk now. I had more than a few words for Magnius, but I couldn't say them.

Magnius then added, looking directly at Lloyd, "Those are some big words coming from someone whose futile actions caused the disaster at Iselia."

My eyes got a sort of hostile glint in them as he said this. I hated that Magnius was toying with Lloyd's feelings like this. If I had a voice, I would've been screaming for him to shut up, that it wasn't Lloyd's fault!

Lloyd looked at the ground, the familiar feeling of guilt associated with the incident at Iselia rising again, "Th..that was--"

Magnius finished, "I know. Why don't I recreate that incident using the vermin on the projector?" His hand idly headed towards a big red button. I wasn't sure what it did, but his words made me tremble.

I then went over there and grabbed Magnius's wrist to keep him from pressing it.

Lloyd shook his head, his eyes growing as big as saucers and yelled, "No...stop!"

Magnius glared at me, "Don't you touch me, woman!" He grabbed my arm and threw me in the air as easily as a toddler throws a stuffed animal when having a temper tantrum.

Thanks to the Exsphere, I managed to right myself in the air and land on my feet, though my ankle twisted lightly and I fell to one knee.

Colette came towards me but I shook my head to tell her to stay where she was.

Magnius looked at Lloyd again, "Come now, I'll be more than happy to turn them into monsters. Just like that old lady you killed...just like Marble!"

Chocolat's eyes went big now, and she questioned, trembling lightly, "...Marble? You...you don't mean that..."

Magnius regarded the Palmacosta tour guide, "Oh, but I do, little Chocolat. Dear old granny Marble was sent to the Iselia Ranch where she was killed by Lloyd."  
During this little exchange, I glanced over at Kratos, who was looking at Lloyd with pity in his eyes. While his expression didn't betray this emotion, his eyes did. Well, I guess he could understand Lloyd's plight since he had to kill his wife because of Kvar removing her Exsphere.

Chocolat backed away from Kratos and the others now, "No..."

Several guards came up behind Chocolat to re-capture her.

Lloyd darted over, "Dammit! Let her go!"

Chocolat shook her head, "Leave me alone! I refuse to be saved by my grandmother's killer!"

Genis spoke in Lloyd's defense, "Wait, it wasn't like that! Lloyd tried to save her! But...the Desians turned her into a monster and..."

Magnius cut him off, "Lloyd killed her." He was wearing an amused smirk on his face as he regarded Lloyd and Chocolat.

Lloyd looked like he was feeling even more guilty now, and glanced at the floor, abashed by Chocolat's words.

Colette finally spoke, wringing her hands and giving a light jump as she regarded Chocolat and the two Desians, "Don't throw your life away!"

Chocolat added, "Dorr will save me! Just leave me be!"

Before Magnius said anything, I darted over to Chocolat and wrote on the back of her hand, ignoring the guards and hoping they would do the same, '...Actually, Dorr is...dead. He was killed by a servant of Pronyma posing as his daughter.'

Chocolat looked at me, a bit surprised, "...Oh." Her expression then hardened to one of coldness, "Well, still, I won't be saved by a murderer, or his friends!" She pulled her hand from my grasp.

Magnius chuckled a bit, "Right, Dorr, huh. Whatever, take her away."

The guards escorted Chocolat to a warp pad that led out of the ranch.

Chocolat dropped something on her way out. Her pass for Hakonesia Peak! It might come in handy...later.

Lloyd went over and picked up the fallen pass, sighing.

Sighing, I shrugged and looked at Lloyd apologetically. I had tried to make the girl see reason.

Lloyd looked at me, and said, "It's okay, Joanna. What happened to Marble...really was my fault."

Kratos spoke from experience, "You had no choice, Lloyd. You were merely protecting yourself and countless others who could've suffered and died at her hands if you hadn't done it."

I nodded in agreement.

We were soon surrounded by many Desians, and I sighed. This was not going to be an easy fight.

After finally defeating all of the Desians, Magnius growled, "How could you idiots allow these inferior beings to defeat you?! Fine, I'll deal with them myself." He took out a huge ax and commented, "Do you really think you're going to live through this?"

I thought to myself, _I'm glad we stocked up on healing items. If I remember right, Magnius was no pushover. Well, he wasn't the toughest, but he wasn't the weakest._

Lloyd merely replied as he rushed the Grand Cardinal, "We'll live, and more! Sonic Thrust!"

Kratos was right next to Lloyd and cried out, "Double Demon Fang!"

I was getting an Ice Arrow ready, having just learned it a few hours ago while fighting the Desian to get the Purple Card. Light bluish-green runes were on the floor beneath me as I focused my mana onto the arrow to greatly chill the tip of it. Finally, ice started to form around the tip. I smiled. _Perfect_. I looked to Colette and wrote in the air, 'Tell Kratos and Lloyd to duck!'

Colette nodded and yelled, "Joanna said to get down!"

Kratos looked a bit befuddled, but nodded and did as I had requested.

Lloyd did too.

I fired the Ice Arrow and Magnius cringed in pain as the ice on the tip of the arrow broke on his shoulder and the arrow itself went in. I looked at Lloyd and Kratos briefly as I got another arrow out.

Lloyd nodded, "Good job. Thanks for the opening."

I smiled and mouthed, 'No sweat. Now, let's get rid of Magnius.'

Finally, after a long and grueling battle, Magnius was defeated.

I was rather beat up after the fight. I had a nasty gash on my right arm, a cut on my cheek, and a badly twisted ankle from where he had attempted to throw me headfirst into the wall. My new crossbow was broken as well. Magnius had reduced it to mere splinters when he had gotten in too close and I had to fight with my knife a bit. I sighed, knowing that the task of fixing my bow was not going to be fun.

Raine asked, "Is everyone all right?"

I sighed and regarded my battered body, giving her an expression that clearly said, 'Do I _look_ all right to you?'

Colette nodded, "I'm fine." She yawned, "Just a little tired, that's all."

Lloyd had a small cut under his eye, but other than that, he seemed okay, "Yeah, I'm fine, Professor. Kratos?"

Kratos looked at him, "I am uninjured. Genis?"

Genis replied, "Other than a few bumps and bruises, I'm great!"

Raine nodded, "I'm fine also. Joanna, would you like me to help you with your wounds?"

I shrugged, not really caring. Before I even realized it, I collapsed to my knees from exhaustion and probably blood loss too.

Lloyd gasped, "Joanna!" He darted to my side, "Are you okay?"

I smiled up at him, writing on his hand, 'I'll be all right once Raine takes care of me. She's the best in the world.'

Lloyd replied, "That may be but..."

I sighed, squeezing his hand hard to make it clear that he was not to worry about me.

Lloyd tried to pull away, "Owwww! Stop, that hurts!"

I wrote on his hand, 'Then worry more about Colette than me. You haven't known me that long, and Colette is your best friend since childhood, right? Worry about her, and let Kratos worry about me, okay?'

Lloyd sighed, "Fine, whatever." He walked towards Colette, "Well then, I guess we get out of here since Magnius is dead and head to the next seal."

Magnius spoke, weakly, "Not quite..."

I blinked, _Holy smokes, he's still not dead. I guess the Desian Grand Cardinals just don't know when to die_.

Magnius then added, "How could I lose...to a bunch of kids?"

Kratos replied, "It is because Cruxis has accepted Colette as the Chosen of Mana."

Magnius looked surprised, as he spoke his dying words, "...But...then, I was...deceived..." He died now, bleeding out from the various wounds we had all given him.

Raine turned to a computer console and began typing stuff in. Most likely triggering the self-destruct for the ranch. She now turned to face us again, "I've freed Neil and the others, as well as activated the self-destruct program. We'd best evacuate now."

Sheena spoke, having appeared in a smokescreen after having come to help Neil get the prisoners to safety, "Isn't that a bit extreme, Raine?"

Raine sighed, "Maybe so...but it will deliver a significant blow to the Desian stronghold in this region."

I nodded in agreement and wrote on her hand, 'I believe we should get back to releasing the seals now.'

Kratos had seen this and nodded, "Yes...we shall spend the night in Palmacosta, then head to the seal first thing in the morning. Is that acceptable to everyone?"

I nodded my head to show that I accepted.

Lloyd replied, "Sounds good."

Genis smiled, "Yep, fine with me."

Raine nodded in agreement, "Perfectly fine."

Colette smiled brightly, "Yeah, that's fine."

Amber and Sarah were still waiting inside the ranch, I remembered. I gasped and wrote on Kratos's hand, 'You guys take the warp pad on out. I'll have to take the long way out. Amber and Sarah are waiting on the floor just below this one right outside of the warp. I'll evacuate with them.'

Raine asked, having been observing, "Can you make it in time? I set the delay timer for 20 minutes."

I nodded and walked over to her, writing on her hand, 'Yes, I can. If my friends and I run our fastest, we should be able to. Go on.'

Raine sighed and nodded, "All right, but be careful."

I smiled at her and thought in the back of my mind, _So, she's the 'mother hen' of the group. Nice_.

Raine and the others warped out and I took the one leading back to Amber and Sarah, going as fast as I could.

Amber and Sarah noticed that I seemed to be rushing.

Amber was the first to ask, "What's going on, Joanna? You're rushing around..."

I wrote on her hand, 'This place is gonna blow up! We have to get out of here!'

Her eyes grew big, "Okay then, let's go." She grabbed my hand and I grabbed Sarah's and the three of us dashed for the entrance.

The ranch began shaking around me and I trembled in fear. I let go of Amber and Sarah, shoving them ahead of myself without even thinking about it. We were at the entryway so it wasn't much further.

I noticed some falling ceiling debris headed straight for Sarah and gasped. I shoved her out of the way, getting clocked in the head. My head was spinning and hurt badly from the impact and I fell to my knees.

Amber screamed, having seen the entire thing. She went back for me, but I shook my head. I wasn't going to let her die because of me. She sighed, "...All right, but if you die..."

I smiled at her and mouthed, hoping she could lip-read, 'Don't worry, I won't. Now then, go on. I'll be fine in a couple minutes.'

She sighed and nodded, Sarah and her heading for Kratos and the others.

I finally allowed myself to fall unconscious due to the pain in my head from the falling debris. I wasn't going to let Amber or Sarah see me in a vulnerable state, because enough people were worried about me for the transformation.

When I woke up again, I was at the inn in Palmacosta, Kratos and Raine both standing over me. I groaned and held my head as I slowly sat up, thinking, _How...how did I get out of that place?_

Kratos explained, "Amber and Sarah came and told us what happened. I came back to get you before you could be killed by the explosion."

Raine told me, "It seems you risked yourself to save Sarah. That was very noble of you."

I shrugged and wrote in the air, 'It was nothing...she's my best friend and I don't want anything bad to happen to her. Anyway, how are the people of Luin?'

Colette told me from the doorway, "They're all fine, Joanna. Dirk was able to make Key Crests for them. Are you sure you're okay though?"

I sighed and mouthed, 'I'll be fine. I have the mother of all headaches but I'll get over it.'

Lloyd had apparently come by to check on me too. He was asleep now, as was most of the rest of our group, but Kratos, Raine and Colette had all come to see how I was doing.

I wrote on Colette's palm, 'You should get some sleep, now that you know I'm going to be okay.'

Colette nodded, "Okay, but you should too. You took a rather nasty blow to the head."

I sighed and nodded. While I knew I probably wouldn't sleep because of becoming an angel, I could always pretend.

Colette smiled, "Thanks. Good night, Joanna." She went to her room and went to sleep.

Raine nodded, "I'm going to get some shut eye now, too. Good night, Kratos, Joanna."

I nodded after her, then looked at Kratos. I wrote on his palm, 'So...tomorrow we're going to the seal, right?'

Kratos nodded, "Yes...but I will not make you stick around for Remiel's speech if you do not wish to." He kept his voice down so no one would be able to hear him.

I sighed, but wrote again, 'I will be there. I don't want Colette to be alone in this since I know what she's going through. Well...except for the heart and memory stuff...'

Kratos replied, "Okay, do as you wish." He sighed and looked out the window, silent the rest of the night.

I rolled over onto my right side, facing the other window.

* * *

A/N: I know I said I would include the Seal of Water, but this chapter is long enough without it. I will put it and Hima in the next chapter. Anyway, please review! 


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

A/N: I meant to put Asgard, not Hima, in the ending note for last chapter. Sorry!

Chapter 5

The Seal of Water and Asgard

After a good night's rest, we left Palmacosta that morning, to go to the seal of water. I wrote on Kratos's hand, 'We should head to Thoda Dock. I believe that the Seal of Water is in the Thoda Geyser, and the only way to get there would be to take a boat from there, because it is an isolated little island.'

Raine gulped, but nodded, already a little pale in anticipation of our surely watery journey. She had been observing me while I had written on Kratos's hand.

Colette asked, "So Professor, Mr. Kratos, where are we going now?"

Kratos answered, "We are heading to Thoda Dock. The next seal is at Thoda Geyser, on an isolated island."

Lloyd smiled, "All right! We get to go on a ship again! Woo hoo!""

Genis replied, "Yeah, this should be fun. Let's go."

Amber nodded, "Yeah, this is gonna be a lot of fun! I've always wanted to go out to sea!"

Sarah responded, "Yeah, me too!"

After about 8 hours of walking, we arrived at the House of Salvation that I considered the halfway marker between Palmacosta and Thoda. I sighed, a bit annoyed about how long it was taking, but oddly enough, I wasn't the slightest bit tired or hungry. I looked to Lloyd and the others and wrote in the air, 'Do you all want to stop to rest or eat or something?'

Lloyd nodded, "Yeah, I'm starved! Please, can we stop, Kratos?"

Kratos replied, "Yes, but only long enough for you to eat. If we can, we want to make it to the dock before it gets dark."

Colette told him, "Okay. Thank you, Mr. Kratos." She smiled and pulled a few of the bags off of Noishe. We had retrieved him from the Triet desert after we had released the Seal of Fire.

After everyone (save Colette and me) had a little something to eat, we left the House of Salvation and continued toward Thoda. The trek took a total of four hours, as I had guessed it would, and it was just starting to get dark when we got to the dock. I looked to Kratos questioningly, as if to ask him something.

Kratos asked, "What is it?"

I went over to him and wrote on his hand, 'Could we spend the night here and leave in the morning? I don't like traveling waterways at night.'

Kratos nodded then turned to everyone else, "Joanna believes we should spend the night here and then leave in the morning. Is that fine with everyone?"

Sarah replied, "Yeah, that's fine. I wouldn't want to go over the water in the dark either…"

Amber nodded in agreement.

Raine stiffly nodded her head. She still looked a little pale, but I wasn't too worried about it. After all, she is afraid of the water.

Lloyd groaned in disappointment, but then said, "All right, fine, in the morning. It is kinda late anyway."

Genis laughed a bit, "Yeah, we can do that. Don't worry about it, Lloyd. There's no hurry. It's not like the seal can just get up and walk away."

I smiled a bit. I would've laughed at it if I had a voice, but my voice hadn't returned yet, so I had to be content just to smile.

Colette replied, "Oh, yeah, that's fine, Kratos. If Joanna's uneasy about going over water in the dark, we can wait until the morning." She smiled at me.

Raine spoke again, "Well, since we're spending the night here, we need to decide who's going to do the night watch."

Kratos told her, "I will, of course. There's no question."

Raine turned to him, "Kratos, that's noble of you to offer, but you've been doing the night watch for the past week. You should get some rest."

I rose my hand, volunteering.

Raine turned to me and nodded, "Just wake someone up when you start to get tired, okay?"

I nodded my head in agreement and looked to Kratos. I went over to him and wrote on his hand, 'Raine would've been onto you if you had, because you've been doing it for the past week. Let someone else have a go at it. Fake sleep if you have to, or just have a little rest. It couldn't hurt anything, could it?'

Kratos replied, "Good point. All right then, good night, everyone." He walked up the stairs inside the building we were now in, which was round with a blue roof.

Raine and the others shortly followed him.

After paying the old lady at the top of the stairs for use of the room, I went back downstairs and leaned on the wall, starting the night watch.

Soon, Yuan came in again and glared at me, "…So, you're awake. I see the transformation is progressing."

I couldn't speak, but nodded my head. I then wondered if I could use telepathy since I was becoming an angel and reached out to Yuan's mind with my own, trying to send him the words: _Yes, it is. Why does it concern you though?_

Yuan smirked, "Heh…so, the transformation has rendered you unable to use your voice. Ironic that Kratos let you be the night watch since you have no way of alerting them if anything is wrong."

_You're wrong, Yuan. I can alert them. All I have to do is make noise by some other means. Kratos is still here and wide awake. He is feigning sleep so the others won't worry about him, but he can pull out of that false sleep in a second. I'd leave now if I were you…otherwise, I might leak certain information to Yggdrassil about you._

He glared, "You wouldn't dare."

_Wouldn't I? I wouldn't test that, Yuan. You don't know what I'm capable of._

Yuan narrowed his emerald eyes, "Maybe not, but I do know my own capabilities." He pulled out his double-bladed sword, moving as if to attack me.

I pulled out my dagger, as my bow was nowhere within reach and unusable at the moment. _Then show me! I won't let you take Lloyd or go anywhere near Colette…_

He sensed my hesitation at saying her name and asked, "Do you know what the Regeneration ritual entails?" He lashed out at me with his sword.

I nodded, barely blocking with my dagger, _Yes, I do. I know that Colette may die from this…but if I interfere, things will be irrevocably altered and I really don't want to piss off __**Lord**__ Yggdrassil._

Yuan smirked, "Heh…you're smarter than you look." He tensed at the sound of footsteps at the top of the stairs, "Dammit…I think he sensed me. Farewell." He disappeared.

I sighed, _Way too close_. I looked up to Kratos, who was now standing near the middle of the stairs.

Kratos asked me, "I thought I sensed someone."  
I told him telepathically, _it was nothing, Kratos. Go back up with the others._

Kratos told me, "I don't think so. I detected Yuan's mana. Do you know what he wanted?"

I sighed and replied _I think he was going to try and capture Lloyd again. Either that or he was going to try and capture me. Seems you scared him off though._

Kratos shrugged, "I have that effect on him, especially now that I've discovered that he is part of the Renegades."

I was trying hard not to laugh, but nodded. I looked out the window to try and judge what time it was. It was just after midnight, according to the position of the moon. I then asked Kratos telepathically, _so, what are you gonna do about him, anyways?_

Kratos replied, "I am still not certain. He has been my friend for years, and Mithos will certainly be angry if he finds out that his sister's fiancé has betrayed him."

I blinked _Oh. Well, maybe you could just keep that secret from him. I…know I haven't said anything about it, but I've been thinking about joining up with Yuan and the Renegades. But please, Kratos…if I do decide to join him, promise me you won't say anything to Lord Yggdrassil._

Kratos sighed, "…All right I won't say anything on one condition."

I sighed too _Figures. All right then, what's your condition?_

Kratos responded, "Make sure he doesn't say anything to Lloyd about my being his father, and that you don't say anything either. I will tell him myself…eventually."

I nodded, _I won't say anything…but I can't say for sure if Yuan will or not. Is that good enough?_

Kratos shrugged, "Better than nothing, I suppose."

I glanced out the window after quite a bit of silence, and saw that the moon was disappearing from the sky and the sun was starting to rise. _Wow, I guess time does fly when you're having fun. Oh, speaking of flying…_

Kratos sighed, being able to tell where I was going with this, "Yes, you can try out your wings now. Make sure you get back before the others are up though and that you retract them when you do get back. You don't want to draw unnecessary attention."

I smiled, jumping up and down for joy. The urge to leave the ground had been bothering me for quite some time, basically since we had left Palmacosta. _Thanks so much, Kratos-sama!_ I then ran out the front door. I summoned up my wings, which were aqua, a nice blend of blue and green in color, and leapt up into the air, timing the flapping of my wings with the beating of my heart as Kratos had told me to do. I flew around the roof of the building and above the Palmacosta Ranch, and then back again. When I got back, I put my wings back in.

Raine asked, as I walked in the door, "Where have you been?"  
I blinked and looked at Kratos, asking him telepathically _did you not tell them where I went?_

Kratos replied, "Of course I did."

Lloyd nodded, having been gauging what I was trying to say to Kratos via my body language, "Yeah, he told us, but…well, Raine still doesn't exactly trust him yet, so…you should've left us a note."

I sighed and looked at Lloyd, writing on his hand, 'I'm sorry if I worried you. Let's just leave to go to the geyser now.'

Colette had been standing next to Lloyd and nodded, "Yeah, we should go."

With no further ado, Kratos led the way out of the building, after paying 200 Gald for the Washtub Tour.

We walked onto the dock and I couldn't help but give a light giggle as I saw the dingy washtubs. When I realized the laugh had actually come out, I jumped for joy, "I can talk again! Yay!"

Colette giggled, "That's great, Joanna."

I smiled, "Aww…thanks, Colette. You're sweet."

Lloyd shrugged and looked down at the washtubs, "It's a…washtub?"  
Genis told him, "Yep, it's a washtub."

Kratos replied, "Washtubs…hmm."

Colette smiled, "Wow! This looks like it'll be fun!"

I said nothing.  
Raine gulped and said, "I…I'm going to wait here. Go on ahead without me."

Lloyd asked, "What's wrong, Professor Sage?"

Raine told him, "N…nothing. I'm not getting in that thing."

Colette smiled excitedly and told her, "It looks like fun! Come on, let's get in!"

Genis took his sister's hand and tried to pull her toward one of the washtubs, "Yeah, Raine!"

Raine took a cowering step back, screaming, "Ahh!"

Everyone got a shocked look on their faces at her outburst, including Kratos.

I laughed at Kratos's shocked look. It was just too funny seeing it in person.

Lloyd turned around and faced Raine. He asked her, "Professor Sage, are you afraid of water…or something?"

Raine straightened up and replied, "I…I was just starting to say 'Ahh, this should be fun.' "

Lloyd sighed and responded to her, "Umm…sure."

Kratos smirked, and said, "Heh…"

After we all got into the washtubs, we headed to Thoda Geyser.

At one point, a monster came up and attacked the tub that I was sharing with Raine, butting its head on the side.

Raine screamed in terror and clung to me, nearly crushing my ribs.

I coughed, "Raine…its okay. We're almost there…uh-oh…" The monster had done enough damage to our little craft that it began to sink.

Raine asked me, shaking badly, "What? What's wrong?"

I replied, "The monster that head butted our washtub badly damaged it…we're sinking!"

Raine looked very bothered now, her face pale and eyes wide in terror.

I told her, "Raine, its okay. I won't let anything happen to you, I promise."

The tub finally sank to the bottom of the sea, leaving Raine and I high and dry, or rather, low and wet.

Raine was screaming and floundering about, trying to stay afloat.

Apparently Kratos had seen what happened because he and Lloyd were both coming back towards us in their own washtubs, Colette, Genis, and the others waiting on the shore.

Raine eventually lost the struggle to stay afloat and began to sink.

I gasped, "Raine!" I dove down after her, grabbing onto the back of her orange robe and pulling her up to the surface, coughing and panting from the effort.

Kratos offered his pole and I grabbed on. He pulled me and Raine in and asked, "Are you all right?"

I nodded, finally managing to catch my breath, "I'm fine…but Raine's not breathing. Move."

Kratos nodded and got out of my way, moving back a bit until he was up against the side of the tub.

I replied, "Okay…this is gonna be a bit awkward…oh well." I pressed on Raine's chest, to help get some of the sea water out of her lungs. I then breathed into her mouth, "Come on Raine…you're tougher than this. Breathe!"

Next moment, Raine coughed up seawater and began to come around.

I sighed in relief and looked at Kratos, "Okay, we can go now. Raine's breathing again."

Lloyd looked over, worried, "Is…is Professor Sage okay?"  
I replied, "She'll be fine Lloyd. Go on back to the shore. I'm sure Colette and the others are worried too."

Lloyd nodded and headed on back.

When Kratos got us there, he got back onto the dock without a word.

Lloyd offered Raine, who had recovered a bit from her near-drowning, his hand, "Here…"

Raine took his hand and pulled herself up onto the dock, "Thank you, Lloyd." She looked to me, "And thank you…for saving my life."

I smiled, "No problem, Raine."

We headed inland from the docks and saw quite a crowd gathered around the geyser.

I looked around for the oracle stone, because I knew it was somewhere around here…

Colette saw it first and said, "That sign over there…"

Kratos asked, "Is there something special about the sign?"

Colette replied, "I think…I think it has my family's crest, but we should go check it out to be sure."

I nodded, "Good idea, Colette. Lloyd, Genis, Raine, Amber, and Sarah, come on!" I followed Kratos and Colette over to the sign.

Raine followed us, along with Lloyd and the others.

Colette nodded, "Yep, that's my family's crest. I guess that means this is the oracle stone."

She placed her hand on the oracle stone and a blue path somewhat resembling stairs appeared and led up to the cave on the cliff nearby.

Lloyd smiled, "All right, here we go! Another seal, woo hoo!"

I giggled, "Can you maintain that enthusiasm, Lloyd?"

Lloyd blinked, "Umm…let me get back to you on that."

Kratos smirked, "Heh."

I gasped, feigning surprise, "Oh my goodness! Kratos smiled! It's a sign of the apocalypse! Run for your lives!"

Lloyd burst out laughing.

Genis laughed a bit too.

Colette got a sudden case of the giggles as well.

Raine was the only one with a straight face, but even she couldn't help but smile. She added, "That's enough everyone. Let's go on inside so we can release the seal, all right?"

I sighed and nodded, "All right, Raine." I looked at everyone else, "Let's head in now."

Lloyd nodded and led the way.

Kratos followed him without a word.

I followed Kratos.

Colette followed me, and the others fell in step behind her.

After fighting quite a few monsters inside the cave, we finally managed to light the torches and fill the water jugs that brought up the warp platform.

I sighed, "Well, here we go." I looked to Colette, "You want to go in first?"

Kratos shook his head, "Not a good idea."

I nodded, "Oh yeah, good point, Kratos. The Cruxis Crystal will react to the mana seal. Let's go then."

Kratos nodded and stepped onto the warp pad that led to the seal room.

I stepped onto it after he was gone from sight and appeared in the seal room, sighing.

Colette was right behind me, and the mana link reacted to her Cruxis Crystal, a blue speck of light appearing and flashing.

Genis and Raine came up behind us.

Genis said, "…I feel an intense building up of mana, just like before…"

I told them, "It's the Guardian of the Seal. Get ready."

Kratos looked to me, "Do you feel up to fighting?"

I nodded, "Yes. Let's do this."

Kratos nodded back and took out his sword, "Just don't get injured badly again okay?"

I smiled, "Sure, no problem."

Raine stood near me, "…Be careful." She advised, taking her staff out.

I nodded and looked toward Lloyd and Kratos, who were now attacking the largest of the guardians. I just noticed…there are three of them! 2 Amphitras and one Adulocia. Adulocia was the one that Kratos and Lloyd were going after.

I aimed for one of the smaller ones, as it tried to go after Kratos, "Hey you!" I then nocked an arrow onto the string and fired it at the Amphitra.

The Amphitra gave some sort of hissing sound of pain then wheeled on me, preparing to cast Spread. I gasped, "Uh-oh…we'd better get out of the way, Raine!"

Raine had seen what the creature was going to do though, and already got out of the way.

I jumped back, not getting hit directly but getting lightly sprayed from the Spread. I sighed, "This is gonna be fun…"

After a long and grueling battle with the 2 Amphitras and Adulocia, we finally defeated them.

I sighed, panting and wiped a bit of sweat from my forehead, "Wow…that was…so hard…"

The seal broke and blue glowing energy appeared in front of us.

Remiel spoke finally, "Chosen of Regeneration… You have done well in reaching this far. Now, offer your prayers at the altar." He glared over at me and telepathically questioned me, as Colette approached the altar, _have you revealed anything yet about the true nature of this?_

I shook my head and replied, _No, Remiel. I have not._

He smirked and nodded, _Splendid. You do realize you will have to betray them at the Tower of Salvation, don't you?_

I glared, _not necessarily. You'd better do your duty now or Lord Yggdrassil will be displeased._

Colette then prayed, "O Goddess Martel, great protector and nurturer of the earth, grant me thy strength." She took out her wings and flew up.

Remiel came down in all his feathers-and-light glory and told Colette, "You have done well, Chosen One, Colette. The second seal is now released."

Colette nodded and told him, "Thank you father."

I glared at Remiel as she said this and told him telepathically, _you like manipulating people's emotions don't you? Stop playing this silly game with Colette and tell her you're not really her father…_

Remiel glared right back at me and replied, _I will do as I please, Lady Joanna. I suggest you stop trying my patience or I might just have to kill you_.

I told him, smirking, _if you do, Lord Yggdrassil will be most displeased. Continue with your job._

Remiel turned back to Colette, "… Accept this blessing from Cruxis. I hereby grant you additional angelic power."

Colette received her new powers, then looked up at Remiel curiously, "Ah…Father?…"  
Remiel cut her off, saying, "The next seal lies to the east, in a place that gazes upon the end."

Colette then finally asked him, "Father, have I done something to displease you?

I was shaking in anger as I watched the scene unfold. I just wanted to shout at Colette and tell her that Remiel was not her father, that the Church of Martel was just a big lie. I stayed quiet though, silently stewing as Remiel gave his answer.

Remiel replied, "It matters not. All that is needed is for you to become an angel. I will be waiting for you at the next seal. Colette…my daughter. Hurry and become a true angel. Do not disappoint me…" He then disappeared.

I sighed and looked at Kratos, "Can we go now?"

Colette came back to the group.

Genis commented, "What's up with him? He always talks like he's so important."

I nodded in agreement, "Yeah, he does. That arrogant, pompous bastard!"

Raine came over and banged my head and Genis's head together, using both hands. She then told us, "Apologize to Colette!"

I winced, "Oww! Geez, Raine!"

Genis rubbed his forehead and told her, "…But…"

Colette then said, "No…its okay. Father…Remiel really does sound like that."

Lloyd sighed, "Whatever. Anyway, let's get going to the next seal. Remiel was as confusing as ever though."

I giggled, "Only to you. I'm sure Genis, Colette and Kratos have figured it out. I know I have."

Kratos sighed and told him, "She's right. Stop complaining. …Let's get moving."

He walked over to the warp pad and stood on it, leaving the seal room.

I followed shortly thereafter.

We made our way back through the temple and down the blue path without much of a problem.

However, as we made our way back to the docks to head back to the mainland, Colette collapsed.

Lloyd gasped and dashed over, "Professor Sage! Colette's sick again!"

I walked over as well, kneeling next to Colette, concerned.

Kratos and everyone else also followed.

Raine added, "Oh no! We must let her rest immediately."

Kratos nodded his head in agreement, "Let us set up camp here then."

Raine replied, sighing, "Yes…but if this is what happens every time Colette releases a seal, she will have a very difficult and trying journey ahead of her. I think I'll call the phenomenon Angel Toxicosis."

Colette began to stir a bit.

Genis asked her, "Colette, are you okay? Does it hurt?"

I looked at Genis, "I'm sure it does."

Lloyd blinked, "Oh yeah…you're an angel too now."

Colette answered Genis, "I'm fine. It'll go away soon…I'm sorry for worrying everyone."

Lloyd sighed and told Colette, "Okay, that's enough. You're not allowed to apologize anymore…"

I cut him off and said, "Especially for things that aren't your fault."

Colette grinned, "Hehehe...I'm sorry."

I face-palmed at that, "Colette…"

After getting camp set up, later that night, Raine and Genis were fast asleep.

Amber and Sarah were asleep as well, curled up like cats next to the fire.

Lloyd, Colette, Kratos and I were still up though.

Lloyd looked at Colette, a bit surprised to find her awake, "Colette, you're still up?"

I smirked and asked, "What's it look like, Lloyd? Does she look like she's asleep?"

Colette giggled at me then looked at Lloyd, "Hehe…I couldn't sleep."

Lloyd sighed and told her, "You may feel better now, but you still need to rest."

Colette replied, "I know. I'll go to sleep in a little while. Don't worry about it, Lloyd."

Lloyd responded, "But still…"

Colette glanced over at Kratos, who was sitting on the ground and keeping night watch, "Kratos is still awake too, and so is Joanna."

Lloyd replied, "That's because Kratos volunteered to be the night watch, and Joanna has a weird sleep schedule. You need to rest."

I glanced over at him, "Hey! Just because I don't have to go to bed as early as you doesn't give you the right to make fun of me."

Colette giggled at my comment, then replied, "…Okay."

Lloyd smirked, then looked at Colette and nodded, "Okay. Good night." He walked away, going to lie next to the fire and go to sleep. He glanced up at the stars before eventually falling asleep.

Colette glanced at the ground, "Please, dream some good dreams for me, Lloyd."

I walked over to her and placed my hand on her shoulder, whispering, "I'm sure he will."

The night passed rather uneventfully.

The next morning, I decided to try and do the impossible task of waking up Lloyd on my own. I shook him, "Lloyd…Lloyd, wake up. We've gotta get going."

Lloyd grumbled and rolled over, acting as if he hadn't heard me.

Raine, Colette and Genis were already up and packing up our little campsite.

I sighed, "Lloyd, come on, get up!" I was tempted to kick him in the side, but thought better of it due to the fact that Kratos was standing not that far away and would probably 'Judgment' my ass for being so abusive toward his son. I then looked at Raine and asked her, "Do you know how Dirk got him up in the mornings?"

Raine shook her head, smirking, "No, but I'm sure you'll find a way."

Colette smiled, "I can help you get him up."

Genis smirked, "Don't worry about it, Colette. I'll get him up."

I didn't like the grin Genis was wearing, but nodded and stepped out of the way.

Genis quietly called out, "Aqua Edge!" and three tiny pools of water formed at the edge of Genis's kendama, then went flying at Lloyd and splashed him good.

Lloyd jerked awake, thoroughly soaked, "COLD!"

I couldn't help but giggle at Lloyd's predicament, "Hey, you're finally awake." I managed to say after composing myself.

Lloyd grumbled, "…I just wanted five more minutes. Who did that anyway?"

Genis hid behind Raine, not wanting to face a grumpy Lloyd.

Lloyd figured out that it was Genis and started to chase him around the area.

Kratos sighed, annoyed, "Cut it out, you two."

I nodded, "Yeah, seriously. Quit it. We need to get going if we're going to make it to the Wind Seal. You were being impossible to wake up, Lloyd, so Genis had every right to soak you with his spell."

Lloyd sighed, "Fine…whatever."

Raine added excitedly, "Maybe we can find some clues about the Wind Seal in Asgard. Let's go there!"

I smirked, "You only wanna go to check out all the ruins."

Kratos shrugged, "It's not too far out of our way. I don't see why we can't go there."

I replied, "Yeah, Asgard is…sort of on the way to the seal, you might say." I was only going to drop hints about this next seal. I wasn't going to actually tell them where it was. I thought for a moment then remembered that after the Wind Seal, Colette wouldn't be able to feel anything anymore, and that after the Tower of Mana, she wouldn't be able to talk anymore. I glanced down at the Cruxis Crystal on my hand, frowning a bit.

Lloyd noticed my slight preoccupation and asked, "Joanna…are you okay?"

I blinked, "Oh…yeah, I'm fine. I was just thinking that's all."

Raine asked me, "About what?"

I replied, "…About what Colette is going through…"

Colette smiled and told me, "Don't worry about me, Joanna. I'll be fine, really. Once this is all over and I'm a full angel, I'm sure all this will go away."

I sighed, "…Yeah, sure."

Kratos broke up the conversation, "Never mind now. Let's get going to Asgard."

Raine nodded, "Right." She took off in a half-run to head towards Asgard.

I blinked, "Raine, wait for the rest of us!" I called out, taking off in a full blown run to catch up with her.

Lloyd called out, "Hey, be careful!" He followed me.

Kratos sighed and took off after his son.

Colette followed Kratos, Amber followed Colette, and Sarah followed Amber.

After what almost seemed like a weird game of cat and mouse, we arrived in Asgard.

It was just starting to get dark as we arrived.

Raine's eyes lit up at the sight of the old architecture and the murals and everything.

I giggled, "This is like heaven to her, I bet."

Colette giggled too.

Kratos sighed, "Yes, well, we don't have time to hang around idly. Let's find the clues we need and get moving."

I nodded, "Okay."

After a good night's rest at the inn, with Lloyd as the night watch for once, we started looking around the city for clues.

I commented, "Let's head to the dais. Maybe we'll find something useful there. Let's not wake Lloyd though. I'm sure he's tired after a long night." I hoped that Lloyd hadn't stayed up so late that he made himself sick.

Genis nodded, "Okay." He seemed a little worried.

I glanced at the silver-haired half-elf boy, "Something the matter, Genis?"

Kratos seemed to notice that Genis was a little worried too, but hadn't said anything about it.

Genis sighed, "…It's probably nothing, but Lloyd looked a little pale and had a bad case of the shivers this morning. I saw him when Raine got me up to get ready to leave…"

I thought to myself, _Oh great, an unexpected complication!_ Out loud though, I said, "I'm sure it's nothing. It was um…rather brisk this morning. Right, Raine?" I didn't really know the temperature since I couldn't feel anything now, but I took a stab at what it would be like in Asgard at 5:00 in the morning.

Raine nodded, "Yes, it was kind of chilly. Though, the news of Lloyd being pale…is a bit unsettling. When he wakes up for good, we should all watch him closely."

Kratos seemed more than a little unsettled at the news that his son wasn't well. However, he remained quiet, and only his eyes expressed the concern he felt for Lloyd.

I then thought of something and gasped, "Wait…what if that blue-haired Desian poisoned Lloyd while he had him captured?" I was, of course, holding back laughter at the thought of Yuan as a Desian, but Raine and the others didn't know the difference at this point between the Desians and Renegades, so I said nothing about it.

Colette sighed and replied, "I guess…it's possible, but why would he do that?"

Kratos, I'm sure, could think of various reasons that Yuan would do that. He finally spoke though, "Perhaps to draw out the Chosen. What better way to test the strength of the Chosen's resolve to save the world than to poison one of her friends and hold onto the antidote?"

Raine nodded, "Good point. So then…let's go study that dais! Come on!"

I sighed, "Raine…maybe we should wait for Lloyd. Just to make sure nothing is wrong with him…"

Kratos nodded in agreement, "I concur. We should wait until we have everybody." I knew, of course, that it was more that he was worried about Lloyd and wanted to make sure his son was not sick. I knew better than to say so out loud though.

Genis responded, "We could be waiting here all day though! What should we do in the meantime?"

I smiled, "I could cook for you guys." I glanced over at Kratos, biting my lip in a failed attempt not to laugh, "Spaghetti."

Kratos shook his head, "…Can you make something else?"

Genis blinked, "Why should she? Spaghetti's good."

Lloyd came up just then and said, "No! No spaghetti! No anything with tomato!"

I blinked, "…Is that even a complete thought?"

Kratos sighed, "That doesn't matter. Let's go to the dais now." He glanced over at Lloyd for a moment, "…Are you feeling all right?"

Lloyd shrugged, "Better than I was earlier, that's for sure." He smiled, "Come on, we've got another seal waiting for us!"

We made our way to the dais, and I sighed, anticipating Raine's long and boring lecture about the history of Balacruf and all that.

When we got there, Raine turned to Lloyd, "Lloyd, state the historical background of this ruin."

Lloyd replied, "Ah, um, well, let's see…

I slapped my forehead, "Not the best response you could give, Lloyd."

Genis answered, "It's the temple where Cleo III held a ritual to offer a sacrifice to the Summon Spirit of Wind in order to quell a storm that had raged for a week."

Lloyd nodded in agreement, "Yeah, that's it. What he said."

Raine sighed and grumbled, "Have you learned nothing at all these past five years?!"

Lloyd smiled, "Sure I have. PE and Art and—"

Raine cut him off, "Never mind!" She walked closer to the stone stage and her eyes glazed over. She was once again in her infamous Ruin Mode! "What perfect form! This delicate curve is said to express the flight of the Summon Spirit of Wind through the sky. In addition, it is said that this stone is infused with a large volume of mana, and at night…"

Lloyd began to get bored and impatient with Raine's lecture.

Kratos was as well, not to mention that he knew that she was getting part of it incorrect, for he had turned and walked away.

However, Genis and Colette seemed really into what she was saying.

Like Lloyd, I got bored too and walked over to Kratos, "So…Kratos, have you noticed any odd behavior on Lloyd's part?"

Kratos shook his head, "No, there has been no noticeable change in his behavior yet. He's his usual clueless and enthusiastic self."

I smiled, "Good. We should still watch him though…just to make sure Yuan didn't…y'know, poison him or anything."

Kratos nodded, "Agreed."

I noticed that Lloyd was walking up behind us and turned around, "Hey Lloyd. You bored too?"

Lloyd nodded, "Yeah. I've heard her lecture about the Balacruf Dynasty and all that at least 50 times."

I laughed, "And yet, you can be so clueless…"

Lloyd crossed his arms, "Hey!"

Kratos shrugged, "So, Lloyd, what are you going to do for now?"

Lloyd told him, "I figured I'd just check out the entire area while I'm at it. Want to come, Joanna?"

I shook my head, "Nah, I'll stay here. Someone has to keep an eye on things while Raine's in her Ruin Mania."

Lloyd gave a bit of a laugh, then nodded, "Okay, well, I'm gonna go look around." He went around the back of the stone stage, where he saw Harley and Linar.

Harley told Linar, "Listen! This is my invention, the "breaker." If we use this bomb now, we can destroy this stage and keep Aisha from being sacrificed!"

Linar replied, "B-but…but Harley, this is the last remaining piece of the Balacruf Dynasty! We can't…we can't just destroy it."

Harley glared and told him, "What do you mean? As things stand now, Aisha might be killed!"

Lloyd walked up just then and asked, "What are you two doing?"

Harley jumped a bit and asked him, "What the-? Who are you?"

Linar gulped and told Lloyd, "…It's really…not what you think it is. We're not trying to destroy this beautiful ruin. Honest!"

Kratos, because of his angel hearing, had heard everything. He had a smirk on his face and told me in a hushed voice, "Lloyd has an impeccable sense of timing."

I shrugged, "I think it's just luck." I had also heard everything that was being said.

Raine had also heard what was said, apparently, and quickly ran over to the trio. She yelled at them, angry for being interrupted during her lecture, and the fact that someone was trying to destroy her precious ruin! "What did you say just now?!"

Lloyd responded, "Professor, these guys were trying to destroy this stage!" He was wearing a smug grin on his face, like he had just caught some kids trying to steal a cookie from the cookie jar.

Raine stepped down from the stage and told them, "And you call yourselves human beings?!" She then kicked Harley and Linar.

I winced a bit at the sound, "…Yeah, remind me never to bother any ruins while in her presence."

Kratos smirked and nodded, "A wise decision."

Harley and Linar both stood up.

Harley told Raine, "I am a half-elf."

Raine retorted, "What has that got to do with anything?"

She moved closer to the "breaker", and told them both, "You have no idea how important this ruin is to the people of Asgard!" She then flipped the switch to the bomb without noticing it.

Lloyd gasped, "…Uh-oh…"

Kratos blinked, "…This could be bad…" He had heard the bomb switch on as well.

Linar then added, "Uh-oh…"

Harley gulped, "Uh-oh…"

I gasped, "Yipes!" I looked to Kratos, "Shouldn't we…move away, at least a little bit?"

Kratos nodded, "Good plan. You get Genis out of the way and I'll help the Chosen."

I replied, "Okay." I dashed over to Genis and told him, "We gotta back up from the stage a bit…something happened just now."

Genis blinked, "Okay…sure, what's up?"

I answered, "Your ruin-crazy sister activated a bomb!"

The half-elf mage's blue eyes widened at this, "…Uh-oh…we should get out of the way then!"

I saw that Kratos and Colette had already moved back some and were standing on the steps leading up to the ruin area. I grabbed Genis's arm and half-dragged him toward them.

Meanwhile, Raine continued her lecture coolly, not realizing what she had done, "You say you're going to destroy this absolutely fabulous ruin? Now listen to me. During the final years of the Balacruf Dynasty, this ruin…"

Lloyd cut her off, "…Umm, Professor…"

Raine asked, "What? If you have any questions, I'll take them after the lecture is over."

Lloyd then told her, "You turned the bomb on!"

Raine sighed and responded, "I told you if there's questions, I'll take them la-"

She turned to look at the bomb and seemed very surprised, "What? How?"

Harley slapped his hand to his forehead, "You pressed the switch, idiotic woman!"

Raine went over and kicked him again, "Don't try to put all the blame on me!"

Lloyd sighed in exasperation, "That doesn't matter now! Is there an off switch?"

Harley got to his feet again and replied, "No, of course not!"

Raine kicked him in the stomach and told him, "Don't act like you're proud of it!"

Somehow, Lloyd managed to disarm the bomb. He then wheeled on Harley, "Don't invent something you can't control!"

Once I heard him say that, I knew it was safe to come back. I then saw the Mayor and a priest coming and blinked, "Colette, Kratos, maybe we should get out of here."

Colette nodded, "Okay…but why?"

I replied, "Because the Mayor's coming, and I'm sure he doesn't appreciate us trespassing."

Kratos nodded, "I concur. Let's get out of here."

Genis asked, "But what about Raine and Lloyd? We can't just leave them here!"

I told him, "I'm sure they'll follow. Come on now." I walked down the steps and back to the main area of the town, giving the Mayor a slightly-sheepish, slightly-friendly smile as I passed him and the priest.

Kratos, Colette and Genis came down right behind me.

A few minutes later, Raine and Lloyd came down too.

Lloyd asked Raine, "Professor, shouldn't we try to find out why those guys were trying to destroy that ruin?"

I knew why, but this was something else I felt like they had to find out for themselves. It wasn't my place to say.

Raine nodded, regarding the rest of us, "Yes, the ruin! We must find out why those two were engaging in such foolish acts as trying to destroy such an important ruin!"

Kratos remained impassive, standing quietly in the background for the moment.

Colette told Raine, "But…we don't know where they are or where they live."

I could tell them where Linar and Harley were easily enough. This was something I felt like I could tell without altering the timeline. After all, part of my 'back story' was that I was raised here. I had to keep up appearances so I spoke up, "I know where they live. After all, I was _raised _here."

Genis blinked, "Oh…okay then. Lead the way, Joanna."

We went to the windmill to confront Harley and Linar.

A few minutes after we arrived, Harley said, "Hey! You guys are the tourists from earlier that stopped us!"

Aisha, who was also in the room, spoke up, "Harley! This is my house, and they're my guests." She looked at us and told us, "Thank you for stopping my brother and Harley from destroying the dais earlier. I'm sure that the results wouldn't have been good if they had succeeded."

I shook my head, "The results would've been very bad. The…uhh…Summon Spirit of Wind would've caused all kinds of chaos for the people here. I didn't want anything to happen to you all since I grew up here."

Raine added, "I am a scholar."

Harley finally spoke again, "But as things are now, Aisha's going to be sacrificed!"

Lloyd looked confused, "Sacrificed?"

I nodded, "Yes, it's part of a ritual in order to appease the Summon Spirit."

Lloyd blinked, only looking more confused, "Oh… What's the ritual?"

Linar explained, "It's a ritual in honor of the Summon Spirit of Wind, as Joanna said. Aisha was chosen for it. Originally, the ritual consisted of just dancing on the stone platform, but…"

Harley finished, "This idiot started meddling with the stone dais as part of his research and opened the seal. Because of that, that Summon Spirit of Wind-thing awoke and is demanding sacrifices."

Raine blinked and asked, "The seal? Do you mean that…?"

Colette added, "What?! The seal?"

Linar replied, looking rather pleased that he knew so much, "Yes! If you, too, are researching the Balacruf ruins, then you must be aware of the altar erected in praise of the Summon Spirit of Wind. The seal really existed, just as the legend said!"

Raine smiled, then asked, "Are you saying that the Balacruf Pillar hieroglyphics are not just a myth?!"

I sighed, "Oh no, here she goes again."

Raine smacked me on the back of my head for the comment.

I rubbed my head, "Oww! That hurt, Raine!" I smacked her back, "Don't hit me again or I'll beat your ass."

Genis and Lloyd looked at me like I had grown a second head.

Colette smiled at me. I think she was proud that I finally showed how gutsy I could really be.

Kratos raised an eyebrow, intrigued by what had happened.

Raine rubbed her jaw, which had a red handprint, and glared, "Bring it on, Joanna!"

I lunged at her, but Kratos held me back, telling me, "This is no time to fight amongst ourselves. Either you two restrain yourselves, or I will personally rip your entrails out with my teeth."

I flinched at the threat, "Ewww….that's nasty, Kratos."

Raine gulped, as she noticed the serious tone in his voice. He could and would really do that if he wanted to. She relented and looked back at Harley and Linar.

Colette looked at Harley and Linar, seemingly confused.

Lloyd spoke again, regarding me with a glare before turning back to look at Harley and Linar, "It sounds like this isn't the seal we're looking for."

Genis asked Raine, after she had calmed down, "Raine…are you forgetting why we're even on this journey?"

Kratos shrugged and let me go, after I had calmed down enough and added, "Well, it's all right. It's not as if it's completely out of the way."

I nodded, "Yeah, like I said, it's sort of on the way to the Seal of Wind."

Linar smiled, "Yes! Near the back of the platform, there is a small indentation and…"

Harley cut him off and said, "That's enough! Aisha's about to be sacrificed to the Summon Spirit tonight! Now get out of here!"

I told everyone, "Well then, let's head back to the stone dais with what we know and see if the Mayor will let us pass. Maybe he's in a better mood now that time has gone by."

Lloyd nodded, "Yeah, let's go!"

With no further ado, our group headed back to the stone dais area and we began talking to the mayor.

The mayor told us, "You were the ones that went up onto the dais without permission."

Raine corrected him, "I am a scholar. May I please have your permission to study this ruin?"

The mayor glared back at her, "There's an idiot like you in the city already. Thanks to him, the tourist industry of our fair city is on the verge of collapse! No, I refuse to let another like him completely ruin it."

Raine looked genuinely confused and asked him, "What do you mean?"

The mayor replied, "If you want to know, try asking Linar."

I then spoke up and said, "We already know about the sacrifice."

The mayor told me, "Then you should understand. We can't let anyone disturb the stone dais anymore. We risk bringing the wrath of the Summon Spirit of Wind down upon this city. The only person I will let on this stage is the Summon Spirit dancer."

I was about to offer my services and to be the dancer, but Raine spoke up before I could and replied, "Then I will become the dancer. Then it would be all right for me to go onto it, right?"

Lloyd looked appalled at this, "Professor!"

Raine looked at Lloyd, "According to what was said earlier, we are at least close to where the next seal should be. If we can meet the Summon Spirit, we should be able to tell if this really is the next seal or not. The sacrifice that the spirit is demanding may even be the Chosen of Mana."

Colette smiled, impressed with Raine's intuition, "…I see! That's our Professor!"

Lloyd didn't look like he believed what Raine was saying, "…You just want to study the ruin firsthand."

Raine smacked Lloyd hard on the face for his comment.

I smirked, telling him, "Lloyd, you really should learn to control your tongue."

Genis nodded, saying, "Yeah, what she said, Lloyd."

Raine looked back at the mayor and told him, "Please, Mayor."

Mayor sighed and replied, "…Fine, do as you wish. I won't be held responsible if it costs you your life though."

We went back to Linar and Aisha's house, to prepare for the ritual later on.

Aisha looked worriedly at Raine and told her, "It's not right that you have to take my place…"

Raine placed a hand on her shoulder and replied, "There's nothing to worry about, Aisha. I trust in my companions."

Genis asked her, looking worriedly up at her, "Raine…are you sure you're going to be okay?"

Raine scratched her chin and replied, "Let me choose a few bodyguards just in case. Hmm…Kratos, you, Joanna, and Genis. Colette must remain protected, so I'll leave her with you, Lloyd."

Lloyd nodded, "You can count on me for that, Professor."

Raine responded, "Thank you, Lloyd. Well then, I should change clothes for this ritual. Would you mind?"

I nodded my head and made to leave the room, but I felt a hand around my wrist, "Eep!" I said in surprise.

Raine told me, "I want you to stay for a moment. I need to talk to you."

I blinked, "Likewise, but…you go first." I still had my back to her so that she could change into the Maiden outfit.

Raine told me, as she changed out of her clothes and slipped on the yellow pants part of the Maiden outfit, "I can understand that you had a rough upbringing, but did you really have to hit me?"

I sighed, assuming that Kratos had told Raine the back story I gave him, "You started it, Raine. I was merely reciprocating."

Raine shrugged, as she slipped on the yellow-and-reddish top, "That's true. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have been so violent towards you."

I smiled, "its okay. No hard feelings. Like I said before though, hit me again for no reason and you'll have brought a fight upon yourself, and don't think I couldn't kick your ass."

Raine laughed, glad that the situation had been resolved, "I don't doubt it. Come on then, I'm ready. It's time for the ritual." She picked up her staff and headed out the door.

I nodded and followed her. We walked out to the stone dais, Lloyd and the others following us in silence. I noticed that Genis still seemed a little worried and placed a hand on his shoulder, "Don't worry, Genis. Your sister knows what she's doing."

Genis smiled up at me, "Yeah, you're right. I just…can't help it. Raine's all I've got."

I replied, "I know, but you've gotta give her some credit. She's a tough girl, tougher than you know."

We soon arrived at the dais and fell completely silent.

Amber then asked me quietly, "So what happens now?"

I told her, "Now Raine has to dance on the dais to awaken the Summon Spirit living in this area."

Raine performed the dance, and the monster awakened.

Colette gasped and shouted, "It's not…No, Professor! That is an evil creature. It's not the guardian of the seal!"

With no further hesitation, Kratos, Genis, and I jumped onto the dais to help her defeat the Windmaster.

It was a rather difficult battle, but we finally defeated the monster.

I delivered the last blow with my dagger, stabbing it through the chest before it finally disappeared. I added, "Oh yeah! All for one and one for all!"

Lloyd looked at me, "What kind of dumb saying is that?"

I smirked, "I don't know. What kind of dumb saying is 'It just wasn't your day.'?"

Lloyd shrugged, "I…I was just kind of saying stuff."

I smiled, "Then we understand each other."

Anyway, Harley and Linar came up after the battle was over.

Linar commented, "Fantastic! You're fantastic, Raine!"

Raine smiled back at him, replying, "It was hardly a challenging opponent. Now, about this stone tablet you acquired…it has some sort of ancient Balacruf writing on it."

Linar told her, "Let's decipher it right away! I have the materials necessary to do so in my house."

Raine nodded, "Yes, let's go!"

The two scholars walked off, chatting adamantly about the old tablet.

Aisha turned to all of us, "Um…thank you for everything."

Harley asked, "That thing…it really wasn't the Summon Spirit of Wind, was it?"

I shook my head, "Nope, but I'm sure Raine and Linar will figure everything out."

Genis added, "Yeah, I'm sure those two will figure out exactly what it was."

Harley nodded, "Yes, I'm sure Raine will. She is a half-elf after all. You can count on her wisdom."

Genis faced Harley, not wanting anyone to know what the two siblings really were, "N…no! You're wrong! Raine is…an elf! I'm an elf too!"

Harley walked a bit closer, "What? Surely you don't think I'd mistake my own…"

Genis looked sad and glanced at the ground, his feelings hurt.

Harley smiled sheepishly, "Ah, actually, I guess I was wrong. It seems you two are pureblooded elves. I must not have been paying careful attention."

Lloyd walked over to Genis and placed his right hand on Genis's left shoulder, "…We should get some rest, too. I'm exhausted. Whoa…and…a little dizzy." He became unsteady on his feet and started to fall back.

Kratos caught him before he could hit his head on the stage, "Easy, Lloyd. As you said, we should go get some rest. You will probably feel better after that. And considering you had the night watch, you may feel free to sleep in a little if you want."

I smiled, "Aww…you're sooo nice, Kratos."

We went to the Vortex Inn and spent the night there.

Kratos took the night watch and kept a close eye on Lloyd as he slept. He looked to me, "So what are you planning to do until morning?"

I shrugged, "I figure now is the best time to go talk to Yuan about joining the Renegades. We may not have gotten off on the right foot, but I'm sure I can fix things." I smiled at him and told him, "Wish me luck! I'll need it…" I walked out of the inn and left town. Looking around to make sure no one would see, I then took out my wings and flew all the way to Triet, stopping at the Renegade base and told the guards, "I have come to see Lord Yuan. Is he in?"

One soldier told me, "Hold on, I will see if he is still awake. Could this not wait until morning though?"

I shook my head, "No, it couldn't."

The other nodded, "All right then. I will go and see. Wait one moment…" He had a little special communication device on his wrist and spoke into it, "Lord Yuan, are you awake?"

Yuan grumbled from the other end and replied, "Yes, what is it?"

The soldier replied, "You have a visitor."

Yuan responded, sounding a little surprised, "Oh…well, who is it?"

I spoke into the little device thingy and said, "Hi, Yuan. It's Joanna. You may or may not remember me. I'm sorry we got off on the wrong foot. Could I come in and possibly patch things up?"

Yuan groaned and nodded, "All right, let her in."

The guards opened the gates and I smiled sweetly at them, "Thanks, guys. You're cool!" I gave them a thumbs-up and walked into the building.

After walking around for what seemed like hours, but in truth was only 15 minutes, I finally got to Yuan's office and told him, "I…apologize for my actions against you earlier, Yuan. I was way out of line."

Yuan looked at me like I was crazy, then shrugged, "It's all right, I suppose. What caused this turn-around?"

I replied, smiling a bit as I told him, "Oh…um, I was wanting to join the Renegades. If…that's all right with you."

Yuan seemed to be thinking about it for a few minutes then asked me, "All right, you can join us as long as you don't leak anything to Kratos about us. Of course, it's not like he doesn't already know…"

I told him, "Oh, don't worry, Yuan. Kratos isn't planning on telling Lord Yggdrassil about your leadership role in all of this, as far as I know. He really didn't seem to know what to do about it, to be completely honest."

Yuan scratched his chin as if thinking and then told me, "That doesn't surprise me. Anyway, what can you do?"

I replied, "Well…I can use a crossbow, although the one that I was using is broken, and I'm pretty handy with a dagger. I'm also good at getting information."

Yuan nodded, "Then you'll fit right in. For now though, I need you to stay with Lloyd's group and report to me their activities on a regular basis."

I blinked, "As in…every night?"

Yuan responded, "Yes…you don't have a problem with that, do you?"

I shook my head, "Oh, no…no problem with it at all, it's just that I'm surprised you trust me with such an assignment since Lloyd and I are friends."

Yuan shrugged, "You're useful where you are, and your position as his newest friend will be useful. You could get him to tell you things that he wouldn't necessarily tell Kratos or the others."

I blinked, "Oh…true." I sighed, "All right then. Is there anything else before I head back to Asgard?"

Yuan shook his head, "Not that I know of. Oh, and what are they doing in Asgard?"

I replied, "They're still following the path of regeneration. They'll most likely be heading to the Wind Seal sometime tomorrow."

Yuan nodded, "All right then, you're dismissed. I'll see you again late tomorrow night."

I nodded, "Okay then, goodbye, Yuan!" I smiled and waved as I headed out and went back to Asgard.

I arrived really early in the morning, around 5:00. I looked to Kratos, who was now in the lobby, "Well, it's official."

Kratos nodded, "You're officially part of the Renegades then?"

I replied, "Yes…but for now, Yuan wants me to stay with you guys and keep tabs on you."

Kratos nodded and asked me, "…He didn't ask you to…do anything to Lloyd did he?"

I shook my head, "No, but even if he asked me to, I wouldn't do it. Lloyd is too much of a friend to me for me to do anything to hurt him."

A few hours later, Colette 'woke up' and came out of her room, "It looks like the Professor hasn't come back yet."

Lloyd came out of his own room and blinked, surprised that she had been gone all night, "Are you serious?"

Genis nodded and also came to the lobby, replying, "She's conducting research with Linar. We should go back to his house and get her."

I replied, "Right. I thought that she would still be there. She's sure dedicated when it comes to studying."

Without another word, we left the inn and went to Linar and Aisha's house.

Once we got there, Raine told us, "Ah, impeccable timing. I just finished deciphering the ancient writing."

Linar seemed really impressed with her, "The Professor is amazing! She deciphered the complex Balacruf writing in no time at all!"

Genis laughed behind his hand then added, "Looks like Raine just gained another fan."

Lloyd added his own words to the 'joke' and replied, "She's quite the catch, huh?"

Genis added, "Uh huh!"

Raine turned around and smacked Genis, then turned to face Linar. She told him, "It would appear that the monster was the cause of the calamity that afflicted the ancient Balacruf Empire."

Linar then added, "It seems that the summoner at the time used Sylph, the Summon Spirit of Wind, to seal it away, and then built this stone dais to suppress the calamity."

Raine nodded and then continued, "In preparation for the day when this calamity might reawaken, he left this map in order for people to be able to locate the Summon Spirit of the Wind."

Linar finished the story, "After a great many years, people eventually confused the calamity with the Summon Spirit of Wind…"

I responded, smiling, "Which is really easy to do if you're not familiar with any of the lore."

Genis then asked, "…So then, do you two know where the next seal is?"

Raine nodded and replied, "Yes. The location of the Summon Spirit is the location of the next seal."

I added my own comment, "Which makes it really easy to find."

Lloyd got a really excited look on his face and replied, "Wow! I wonder what the Summon Spirit of Wind is like! I can't wait to see it!" He looked confused at me, "And what do you mean, that makes it really easy to find?"

I giggled, "Never mind, Lloyd. It's not important."

Colette smiled and told us, "Now we can finally regenerate the world!"

I smiled, "Yep, we sure can." I then sighed, somewhat wishing that I didn't know all that I did.

Aisha blinked, "Eh? Regenerate the world? Now that I think about it…what was your purpose in coming here anyway? You don't look like any normal band of travelers…or any tourists that I've seen around these parts."

Kratos replied, "Well then, if you know our next destination, Professor Sage, we should leave as soon as we can."

Raine nodded, "Yes. It's likely that the next seal is inside of the Balacruf Mausoleum."

Lloyd added, "Okay then. Let's get going!" He seemed really genuinely excited about seeing the next seal.

I shuddered, "Doesn't a mausoleum…usually mean dead bodies and zombies and stuff?"

Raine shrugged, "That's just superstition. Most mausoleums have statues or paintings in them that depict the ones buried. Why?"

I replied, "Oh, um…I'm just nervous, that's all."

Genis laughed, "You're not scared, are you?"

Kratos smirked, but didn't say a word.

I shook my head, "Nope, not me!" I smiled to hide my discomfort.

Aisha spoke again and said, "Ah, um…"

Colette nodded, "Well, please take care, Aisha."

We left Asgard and headed toward the Balacruf Mausoleum.

* * *

A/N: Wow...what a really long chapter! I didn't expect this much! Anyway, review and I will update again as soon as I can.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1  
A/N: I would like to thank AschTheHated for putting together the game script. I didn't give him/her credit the last few chapters, so I felt it was due.

And sorry it took me so long to add this chapter. I've had a bad case of writer's block,my boyfriend just broke up with me, and my sister's getting married tomorrow so I've been getting ready for that wedding too.

Lloyd: That arrogant bastard! Acting like he cared about you and then going and using a text message to break up with you?! You were together for 2 years! What the hell was that guy thinking? Didn't it mean anything to him? A wedding? Wow! I'll bet you are excited!

Me: ...He wasn't. And thank you for caring, Lloyd. I am very excited.

Fate of the Three Worlds

Chapter 6

Seal of Wind, Luin, Asgard Ranch: Part 1

We arrived at the Balacruf Mausoleum a few hours later, making fairly good time for how far we had to go.

Lloyd spoke up, "I'm starving. Can we stop and eat out here and then go into the seal?"

Amber chimed in, "Yeah, me too."

Sarah nodded in agreement.

Kratos shrugged, "I have no objections. Chosen?"

Colette smiled, "Sure, Lloyd, we can stop."

I added, "I'll cook. I can make a really mean chicken pasta or grilled cheese."

Raine nodded, "Let's take a vote then. All in favor of chicken pasta raise your hand."

Genis, Lloyd, and I raised our hands.

Kratos added, "And all in favor of grilled cheese?"

Kratos, Raine, and Colette raised their hands.

I sighed, "Well, looks like we have a tie. Noishe, you have the tiebreaker vote. Do you want grilled cheese sandwich or chicken pasta? Bark once for sandwiches and twice for pasta."

Noishe seemed to understand me and barked twice, putting in another vote for chicken pasta.

I smiled at Noishe and patted him on the head, "Chicken pasta it is then."

I searched the packs on his back for cookware and noodles and chicken.

When I finally found a pot in Genis's bag and some Cockatrice meat (we had fought one earlier and Kratos had suggested we keep the meat after we had killed it), I frantically searched my own pack for noodles. Finally finding some ramen at the bottom of it, I smiled, "Heh… the season packet plus the cockatrice meat should taste great." I went to the spring I had seen earlier and began to fill the pot. When I got back, Kratos had a fire going. I smiled and told him, as I set the water on the fire to boil, "Thanks."

Kratos nodded a reply.

Raine was having a heyday with the ruins while waiting for her lunch. I couldn't help but giggle at the sight.

Colette and Lloyd were talking softly to each other and Genis was eavesdropping with a smile on his face.

I smiled softly at them then turned to look at the water. It was boiling and I blinked, "Oh, whoops." I opened the ramen packet and set the seasoning packet aside, pouring the noodles into the water. I stirred it until I was sure the noodles were tender and ready then chopped the cockatrice meat into small square chunks. I then asked Genis, "Do you have a skillet?" I placed the finished noodles back on the fire to stay hot.

Genis replied, "Oh, yeah." He dug one out of his pack and handed it to me.

I smiled, "Thank you." I then placed the skillet carefully over the fire and put in the meat. At one point, the meat hissed and sizzled so much that some of the hot grease splattered onto my arm. It didn't hurt though. It was just a very warm and wet, sticky feeling there.

Lloyd's mouth began watering at the scent of cooking food. He whined, "How much longer, Joanna?"

I replied, "About ten more minutes, Lloyd."

The cockatrice meat was finished about five minutes later, and I dumped it on the ramen noodles. I then added the seasoning packet and stirred it all together. Five minutes later, I called out, "Lunch is ready!"

Raine snapped out of ruin mode and helped me get everyone together.

I fished some plates, a wooden serving fork and flatware forks out of Raine's bag and handed them out to everyone individually.

I then carefully extracted the pot from the fire. Unwittingly, I burned my right hand. I gave everyone one helping of pasta, ending with Lloyd. I got myself some and sat down next to Sarah to eat, setting my plate on my lap.

It was then that the red-clad swordsman noticed that I was burned a bit and told me, "Joanna…your right hand and arm…they're burned!"

I blinked, "Wha-?" I glanced at the affected limb and sighed, muttering, "But it doesn't hurt…"

Amber, who was sitting closer to me, asked quietly, "What do you mean it doesn't hurt? It has to...unless something's wrong with you."

Sarah replied, "That's probably what it is. She's probably coming down with something."

I sighed and told them, "I'm becoming an angel. Losing feeling is part of that."

Lloyd asked, as I had said it quietly so he wouldn't hear, "What was that?"

I told him, "I said it doesn't hurt that much, Lloyd. Really, I'm fine. Finish your lunch."

Lloyd told me, "But…you're blistering up badly."

I repeated, "Finish your lunch. I said I'm fine." I glared at him in such a way that said, 'Leave me the hell alone or I'll kick your ass.' That look probably cost me a few brownie points, but right now, I didn't care. We were so close and yet so far away from finishing the journey that I wanted to cry for what I knew. Kratos was going to betray them at the Tower of Salvation and Colette would lose her soul, which was going to make him an emotional wreck.

Amber and Sarah could tell that something was really bothering me, but being the good friends that they were (and still are), they decided to leave me alone about it and let me talk about it with them when I was ready.

Lloyd was about to say something else, but Kratos silenced him with a hand gesture and told him, "Lloyd, if Joanna says it's nothing to worry about then let's not worry about it."

Lloyd sighed, "Fine." He went back to eating his pasta.

After we were all finished eating, I let Noishe have what was left and cleaned Genis's skillet and pot.

Kratos told me, "Let me see your arm and hand."

After placing the pot and skillet back in Genis's pack, I went to Kratos and held my hand out to him.

He took it in a gentle but firm grasp, "You should be more careful when you're cooking." He wiped away the dried and caked-on grease on my arm with a handkerchief then healed the blistering burn.

I smiled, "I guess I'm just clumsy sometimes. Happens to everyone."

Kratos nodded, "I suppose." He moved his right hand so it was under mine, and healed the burn there with his left.

I told him, "Thanks, Kratos."

He responded, "You're welcome." He turned a bit so he was facing everyone, "Let us head into the seal now."

Lloyd nodded and led the way to the sealed entrance. He asked, "Where's the oracle stone? We can't get inside without one…"

Raine added, "The map of Balacruf said this is the right place, so there's no doubt it is the seal. But where is the oracle stone?"

I told Raine, "Let me see the map. I have an idea."

Raine blinked, but then nodded, "Okay…" She handed me the map.

I placed the map in the slot and the oracle stone, after a brief rumbling, appeared.

Genis smiled, "Looks like you had the right idea, Joanna. I thought that slot-thing had a purpose."

Raine added, "Go ahead Colette."

Colette nodded, "Right." She opened up the passageway leading into the seal and we all walked inside.

After defeating many monsters and making it past dangerous traps (as well as changing the Sorcerer's Ring so that air came out of it), we made it to a room full of large, brightly colored fans. I _hated_ this room because I always struggled with remembering the order to start up the fans. After thinking about it for 5 minutes, I told Lloyd, "Hey, Lloyd, start the Red fan up with the Sorcerer's Ring."

Lloyd blinked, but then nodded, "Uhh…okay. What's going on though?"

I told him, "We have to start the fans up in a specific sequence to open that last door. The seal is just beyond it."

Raine asked, with a suspicious look on her face, "How can you be sure that theory is correct?"

I replied, "Well, this is called the Seal of _Wind_. It wouldn't surprise me if the Goddess Martel wanted to test Colette's intelligence with such a complicated puzzle."

Kratos nodded, "She makes a good point, Raine."

Lloyd used the Sorcerer's Ring on the red fan and then turned to me, "Which one now?"

I responded, after looking like I gave it some thought, "Hmm…try the yellow one."

Lloyd did so and turned to me again, "Now?"

I told him, after thinking it over, "Green."

He used the Sorcerer's Ring on the green fan then looked back at me.

I responded, "Try the white one."

He asked, after starting it up, "And the last one?"

Genis smirked, "The only one that's not spinning. The Blue one."

Lloyd hit the blue fan and the door at the north end of the room opened.

Amber blinked, "Wow...that's really cool!"

Sarah nodded, "Yeah, that's awesome!"

I told them, "You two wait in here. We have to go face the Guardian of the seal in a few minutes and I don't want you two to get hurt."

Colette smiled gleefully and told me, "You're really smart, Joanna! You figured that out all on your own! Let's go release the seal."

We went out the door to the north.

Lloyd commented, "We finally made it here…I was getting sick of those dungeons."

Kratos sighed, "Clearly, you have no patience, Lloyd."

The seal began to react to Colette's Cruxis Crystal.

Genis tensed a bit. He said, "I sense…incredible mana. Everyone get ready."

I told Genis "Make sure not to use Wind spells. The Guardian of this seal will probably be a Wind monster of some kind." I tensed and drew my new crossbow. It had been Yuan's way of welcoming me to the Renegades, and much better than my old one. I had kept it hidden behind a pinkish cloak that I had bought in Asgard the night before.

Iapyx appeared and we began to fight him.

After about an hour, it looked like he was about gone.

Kratos shouted, "Lloyd, follow it up!"

Lloyd nodded, "Right!"

They called out in unison, "Cross Thrust!"

The move looked even cooler in person than it did on the OVA. It was like two shock waves of light slicing the bird-creature in half.

It was enough to finish him off too, because Iapyx disappeared immediately after that.

The seal broke and a green ball of energy appeared.

Remiel spoke, "Chosen of Regeneration…you have done well in reaching this far. Offer your prayers at the altar."

Colette nodded, "Of course!" She walked up to the altar, "O Goddess Martel! Great protector and nurturer of the earth. Grant me thy strength." Her pink iridescent wings appeared and she flew up, stopping in mid-air.

Some light filtered through the clouds and Remiel appeared. He told Colette, "This is the third seal. You have done well, Chosen One…Colette!" He asked me telepathically, _Do you know where Lord Yuan is?_

I shook my head, _No, but even if I did, why would I tell you?_

Colette told Remiel, "Thank you…"

Remiel added, "Receive this blessing, the gift of more angelic power from Cruxis."

Colette nodded, "Oh, y-yes, father. Thank you." She received additional angelic power.

Remiel glanced at me momentarily, telling me telepathically, _Because if you don't, I can tell Lord Yggdrassil that you are causing trouble and he will switch you and your friend Liz's positions. _He then looked back at Colette, "The next seal lies far northwest at a place that gazes upon the center of the world. Offer your prayers at the altar in that distant land."

I sighed and told him telepathically, _Don't remind me that Yggdrassil has you watching my every move. It's disconcerting._

Colette nodded and responded, "I shall do as you command…Lord Remiel."

Remiel told her, "The end of your journey is close. Hurry up and become a true angel, Colette…my daughter."

I yelled at him telepathically, _Cut this daughter crap out! Or I'll rip out all your feathers!_

Remiel glared daggers at me before disappearing. He added, in a sort of disembodied voice, to Colette, "Do not disappoint me…"

Colette descended to the floor and put away her pretty pink iridescent wings. She sighed and muttered, "A true angel…"

Lloyd didn't really understand what she was saying, "What?"

Colette covered up her pain with a smile and told him, "Ah, nothing. I was just thinking…when I become a true angel, it'll be amazing!"

Genis seemed slightly curious and asked, "I wonder how many seals are left?"

Raine replied, "That…we don't know for certain."

Kratos told us, "At any rate, all we can do is keep going."

As we made our way out of the Balacruf Mausoleum, a familiar female voice echoed off the enclosed space, "Stop!"

I turned around, smirking, "Well, Sheena…I was wondering if you were going to try again. You're not going to get to kill Colette, so why don't you just bugger off back to where you came from?"

Amber looked a little nervous and scared, clasping onto Sarah's elbow and hiding behind her, "Joanna...who's that? Why does she want to kill Colette?"

I sighed, "Not now, Amber. I'll tell you both later, okay?"

Sarah nodded and kept watching Sheena to see what she would do.

Lloyd sighed, "Joanna…"

I smiled, "Sorry, just trying to avoid trouble."

Genis drew closer to Raine and mumbled, "Oh no…"

Sheena drew closer, coming into the light, "This day has finally come! This ruin shall be your graveyard…"

Colette walked a few steps closer, "Oh, you're here too!"

I grabbed Colette's arm, "What the fuck are you doing?! Do you _want_ to die?"

Raine smacked me for using such _adult _language around Genis.

Sarah almost smacked Raine back, but I stopped her, "Let's not have arguing amongst ourselves. It's bad enough that Sheena's here."

Sheena told Colette, "S…stay back! Don't touch anything!"

Colette asked, "Now that we've finally become friends, why do we have to fight?"

Sheena looked confused by Colette's words, "Since when are we-?" She gave a fake cough, and then continued, "I have no intention of befriending you! Prepare yourselves!"

Kratos warned us, "Get ready!"

After a good two hours of fighting, we managed to defeat Sheena and her Guardian-Lightning.

Sheena panted, dropping to one knee, "Argh! Why…why can't I win?"

Genis spoke up, "Goodness and love will always win!"

Lloyd grumbled, "Genis please don't bring up that stupid Dwarven Vow."

I shrugged, "I don't think it's so bad. It's actually a good philosophy."

Amber and Sarah nodded in agreement.

Sheena looked _very_ confused now and blinked, ""Goodness?" What do you mean, "goodness"?! If you're good, I'm good too!"

Lloyd complained, "Not you, too! Everyone stop saying corny things!"

Sheena glared at him, a bit ticked off now, "What do you know? When you finish the journey of regeneration, my country will come to ruin! I won't let that happen…I swear!"

Colette seemed confused at her words, asking, "Wait. What are you talking about? If I regenerate the world, everyone will be saved…right?"

Sheena told her, "…This world will be saved!" She left the area.

Raine shouted after her, "Stop! Who are you?! So you're not alone?!"

Lloyd just looked even more confused than Colette, "This world? What did she mean?"

Kratos seemed to be thinking over what Sheena had said, but also seemed slightly puzzled, "That girl…is she…?"

I whispered into his ear to confirm his suspicions, "Yes, she's from Tethe'alla."

Kratos glanced at me and asked, just as quietly, "How would you know?"

I told him, "Don't you remember? I told you I was born in Tethe'alla, but my parents came over here on a pilgrimage to check out the 'legendary Sylvarant'? They were taken to a ranch and killed, and I was raised in Asgard."

Amber was about to say something, but I placed my hand over her mouth and shook my head.

Kratos nodded, recalling my saying that, "Oh…yes, of course."

Genis asked me and Kratos both "Do either of you know her?"

I shook my head, despite the fact that I already knew who Sheena was, and replied, "Nope, don't have the slightest idea who she is."

Kratos answered him, "…No. Let's get out of here."

We left the Mausoleum, and once we were outside, Colette started to collapse, the effects of Angel Toxicosis setting in again.

Lloyd caught Colette before she could hit the ground and held her up, "Colette!"

Amber and Sarah both gasped in shock.

Raine told Lloyd, "It's the Angel Toxicosis again. Let's hurry up and let her rest."

Lloyd asked her, "Are you okay?"

Colette sighed and told him, "I'm sorry to trouble everybody again…"

Lloyd responded, "Don't worry about that but-" His foot got tangled up around Colette's and he let go of her to keep from falling on top of her, both of them falling. He fell in the opposite direction of Colette. He mumbled, "Oww…"

Genis dashed over to them and asked Lloyd, "What are you doing, Lloyd? Are you okay, Colette?"

Colette seemed to zone out for a few moments, "…"

Genis asked, growing more concerned about her, "Colette? Wh…what's wrong? Did it hurt? Did you hurt yourself?"

Colette smiled sweetly at him and replied, "N…no. I'm fine. Hehe… I just blanked out for a moment."

Lloyd had a slightly worried and unbelieving look on his face as he watched them, "…"

We set up our campsite near the entrance to the Mausoleum but away from anything that could potentially be dangerous if lit on fire.

After Kratos had the campfire steadily burning and Raine and Genis had gone to sleep, Lloyd looked to Colette and told her, "Colette. Let me see your hand."

Colette seemed confused, "Huh? Why?"

I told her, "Just let him see." I knew she couldn't feel anything, but stayed quiet about it, "What's the harm in it?"

Lloyd was not careful at all when he grabbed her hand, "You're hurt! It must have happened when you fell. Look how much you're bleeding!"

Colette stepped away from him a bit, and replied, "But it doesn't hurt."

Lloyd looked really worried now and asked, "What?"

Colette immediately corrected herself and told him, "Uh, I mean, it doesn't hurt that much."

Lloyd stepped away a bit and asked her, "…Colette, can I talk to you for a sec?"

He came over to the campfire and asked Kratos, "Could I have some coffee for Colette and me?"

I sighed, "…Lloyd, I know I've not said anything, but…this is normal. It's a normal part of the process of becoming an angel. Stop flipping out, you're scaring Colette. Maybe you can't tell, but I can."

Kratos nodded, "Sure." After giving him two cups of steaming hot coffee, he looked at me, "You're very good at gauging other people's emotions."

Amber responded, "Yeah, she's a good judge of character."

Sarah replied, "Yeah...she's good at cheering people up too."

I shrugged, "I was slightly empathic before the angel transformation. I think that just further enhanced it." (A/N: This is true in real life because I can usually get a sense of what others in the room are feeling. It's weird but…that's something I got from my grandmother. It skipped a generation with my dad, I think. He doesn't have that, or if he does, he's very good at hiding it.)

Lloyd nodded and went back to Colette. The two walked off.

This was one time when I felt they should be alone.

Sarah started to follow them, but I grabbed her wrist, "Let them be. They need this time to themselves."

Amber asked, "Why?"

I sighed, "It's complicated. Just trust me."

Sarah nodded and lay down on the ground, taking a little while to fall asleep.

Amber lay down also, going to sleep, "Sweet dreams, Joanna."

I smiled and sighed, adding, "Yeah...you too. Night."

Sarah mumbled, "Night..." She finally fell asleep.

Amber did as well.

Colette asked him, after he got back, "Lloyd, what is it?"

Lloyd told her, "I thought it would be nice for us to talk just by ourselves."

Colette nodded and smiled, "…Sure."

Lloyd handed her a cup of the coffee Kratos had given him, "…Here, it's hot coffee."

Colette told him, "Thanks."

Lloyd asked her, "Hot, isn't it?"

Colette responded, "Yeah, really hot."

Lloyd then told her, "It's actually iced coffee."

Colette looked extremely puzzled when he said this, "…What?"

Lloyd explained, "I had Genis make it cold."

Colette smiled and gave the fake giggle, "Oh, hehe, yeah, of course it's cold."

Lloyd sighed and told her, "I lied. It's actually hot."

Colette dropped the cup of coffee without noticing it.

Lloyd, more suspicious of her now, said, "…I knew it. How long have you been like this?! You can't feel anything at all, can you?!"

Colette tried to refute what he was saying. She told him, "Th…that's not true!"

Lloyd sighed and replied, "You're lying! When you fell earlier, you already couldn't feel anything, could you?!"

Colette couldn't exactly refute what he was saying because she knew it to be true. She said, "W…well, uh…but…uh…"

Lloyd then added, "You were bleeding like crazy, but you didn't even flinch when I squeezed your hand!"

Colette sighed and told him, "…I guess the secret's out."

Lloyd then added, "You haven't been eating either."

Colette giggled and said, "I eat! Hehe...and besides, Joanna doesn't eat either."

Lloyd told her, "That's because she's older and doesn't have to eat as much, and you _barely_ eat. You even started eating things you don't like. And that's not all. Have you been sleeping?"

Colette replied, "Of course. Hehe…see. My eyes aren't red or anything."

Lloyd shouted at her, "Stop lying to me! You always do that fake giggle when you lie!"

Colette told him, defensively, "Th…that's not true!"

Lloyd asked, "Is it that hard for you to trust me?"

Colette feeling slightly hopeless now, replied, "No!…It's not like that! I just…" She sighed and finished, "I just didn't want anyone to worry."

I walked up just then, feeling they had enough time alone, "Colette, I'm not worried. I've been through the same thing, so I can understand what you're going through." I was about to mention Kratos, but then decided it wouldn't be such a good idea. It would cause Colette to ask Kratos unwanted questions and I didn't want her to feel betrayed by him. It was bad enough that he would be betraying everyone else.

Lloyd asked me, "What's happening to her then, if you're so smart?"

I sighed and told him, "Let Colette tell you when things first started getting fucked up for her and then I'll tell you." I glanced over at the Sages, as if to make sure that Raine was still soundly asleep. She didn't approve of my _adult_ language.

Colette replied, "I don't know…but things first started getting strange at the Fire Seal. I suddenly didn't want to eat anything any more. Even if I did, it had no taste."

Lloyd blinked, "…No taste?"

Colette sighed and told him, "I can't hold anything down when I force myself, so, I haven't been eating. I simply don't get hungry anymore."

I nodded, knowing all too well the sensations.

Lloyd looked flabbergasted, "That…that's…"

Colette continued, "When I released the next seal, I stopped getting sleepy. I close my eyes, but I just can't sleep. I haven't slept at all since then. With this latest seal, I stopped feeling anything."

Lloyd asked her, very surprised, "Why-why didn't you say anything?"

I sighed and answered for her, "She figured it was just part of becoming an angel so she didn't let it get to her, like it does you. Lloyd, just please, relax and be calm. You're not helping Colette by freaking out like this."

Lloyd shook his head, "_This_ is what means to become an angel?! Not eating anymore, not sleeping anymore, not feeling anything anymore?!"

Colette told him, "But my eyes have actually gotten better. I can see really far away now. And my hearing, too. I can hear even the faintest sounds really well. I can hear them so well that…it's kind of painful sometimes."

Lloyd walked over to her and hugged her gently, telling her, "I'm sorry. …I didn't realize what was going on at all. I'm sorry."

Colette pulled away slightly and told him, "Please…don't tell the others about this."

Lloyd looked at Colette like she was crazy and asked, "Why?"

Colette replied, "Well, I mean, we're all on this trip together and I want it to be fun. So, I don't want you to worry about it either, okay?" She looked at me, "And even though you know what I'm going through, please don't you say anything either."

I sighed, but nodded, "All right. I promise."

Lloyd took Colette into another hug and told her, "…You're so stupid!"

Colette told Lloyd, "I'm sorry, Lloyd. Even though you're crying for me, and I'm happy, so happy I want to cry…but I can't anymore. I'm sorry!…"

I cleared my throat and told them, "I hate to interrupt such a heart-wrenching moment but Lloyd still needs to sleep, Colette."

Colette nodded, "Okay…dream some good dreams, Lloyd. Okay?"

Lloyd smiled and replied, "Of course. I'll dream for you since you can't. Good night, Colette. Joanna, can I trust you and Kratos to keep an eye on her?"

I told him, "Yes, Lloyd. Now, get some sleep."

Lloyd nodded and went back to curl up next to the campfire, his head near Kratos's booted feet.

I turned to Kratos and asked, "So…where do we go tomorrow?"

Kratos replied, "…Luin. We should be able to find some clues about where the next seal is there."

After I was sure everyone was asleep and that Colette wasn't listening in, I asked him, "…Is that where Anna's from?"

Kratos nodded, glaring slightly as I asked, "Yes…but how did you know that?"

I shrugged, "I was in Luin once during an Asgard pilgrimage, taking a short break. I heard someone mention the name Anna and was curious about her. When I asked to find out more, they told me she had married a mercenary named Kratos and no one had seen her since."

During the night, Yuan came again and attempted to kidnap Lloyd.

I got in his way, "Yuan…don't mess with Lloyd. Kratos is sitting right near him, if you didn't notice and he's super-protective of him."

Yuan sighed and nodded, stopping as he got near the fire, his skin glowing a slight red-orange from the fire, "So…what do you have to report?"

I told him, "Well, so far, nothing has caused them to stray from the path to Regeneration. They just completed the wind seal and are leaving to go to Luin in the morning to find out where the next one is."

Yuan told me, "All right. Well, here…" He handed me a small vial with a blue liquid in it.

I blinked, "Eh? What's this?"

Yuan replied, "It's an odorless poison you must give to Lloyd. It will make him sick, causing a delay in the journey, and I have to stop the Chosen from becoming a true angel."

I sighed, "But…Yuan, I don't…what do you want, Kratos?"

Kratos looked at me, "Be quick about your meeting with Yuan. What is that in your hand?"

I replied, "A poison for Lloyd…I told Yuan I don't want to give it to him, but he won't listen to me! All it will do is make him sick, but…I just can't do that to Lloydie."

Kratos took the vial from me, "I will slip it into his food. They are asleep anyway so they won't notice if I mix it in there."

I asked, "…Are you sure you want to Kratos? I mean…he is your son. Wouldn't you rather have someone else do it?"

Kratos sighed, "He isn't aware of that fact yet, but you're right. I would rather someone else does it." He handed the vial back to Yuan, "Joanna won't do it and neither will I. You'll have to do it yourself, Yuan."

Yuan responded, "…You're both too soft. Fine, I will do it myself." He grabbed Lloyd's bag and took a piece of bread out of it. He mixed the poison in thoroughly, then cast a spell on it to help it maintain its normal color, so Lloyd would have no idea it was poisoned. He looked to me and Kratos, "If either one of you warns Lloyd not to eat that bread, I will report you for treason."

Kratos smirked, "Heh…actually, I could report you if I really wanted to, but all right."

Yuan smiled and shook his head, trying not to laugh at Kratos as he left.

The rest of the night went by uneventfully.

The next morning, Lloyd was the first one up (surprisingly) and went for his pack. He took out the poisoned loaf of bread and took a huge chunk out of it, biting it without even cutting it.

Colette sat up, giving a fake yawn as Raine and Genis woke up as well. She didn't want them to know that she didn't sleep at night after all. I suspected that Kratos already knew as well, but didn't say anything.

We packed up our campsite and began to head for Luin, when Lloyd started looking a little green, like he might puke at any moment.

I asked, "Lloyd, are you okay?"

Amber and Sarah looked at him as well, concerned.

Lloyd told me, "…I think so…be back in a minute." He walked away and threw up behind a tree. When he came back, he seemed really pale and his skin felt ice cold to the touch, and a bit clammy.

Kratos got genuinely worried and told him, "Lloyd…if you are not well, perhaps we should stop and rest."

Lloyd responded, "Nah…I think I can make it to Luin."

Sarah sighed, "But if you don't feel good, I really think we should stop."

Amber nodded, "Yeah, I think so too. But it's up to you Colette."

Colette replied, "If Lloyd thinks he can make it to Luin, I think we keep going."

I sighed and nodded, "All right Colette, but if Lloyd gets worse, we're stopping, okay?" Silently, I wondered how strong Yuan had made the poison.

We made it to Luin, but found it in shambles.

Lloyd gasped and said, his voice sounding slightly weak, "…This is…"

Colette finished his sentence, "Horrible…"

We split up and searched the city for survivors. I was in a group with Lloyd and Kratos. Raine, Colette and Genis were in the other group. Amber was in my group and Sarah was in Raine's group. After searching for a while, we joined back up as one large group and started to head out.

When we arrived at the fountain, we found Sheena kneeling and hurt badly.

Genis looked genuinely confused and told her, "You! Now you're even over here?!"

Lloyd walked over to her and asked, "What happened? You're badly wounded."

Sheena looked up at him and answered, "…Oh, it's you guys. If you want to finish me off, now's your chance. I don't have any strength left to fight."

Colette, being of the kind heart she was, told her, "You're hurt badly." She turned to Raine and begged her, "Professor! Please…heal her."

Raine nodded, "I will, but first, I want you to tell me what happened here. It seems she has companions and this may just be a trap to catch us off guard."

Colette got a slightly cross look on her face and told her, "Professor!"

Sheena smirked, but it was dangerously close to a real smile and she said, "Hah! You're as devious as you look."

Raine shrugged and said, "…Call me what you like."

Sheena glanced at the devastated fountain for a moment, then back up at our group, "Take a look at this city. Everything's in ruin. The Desians…invaded."

Lloyd looked very angered by this statement and glared, asking, "What?!" He coughed a bit, groaning and clutching his stomach.

Kratos gave him a curious look and placed a hand on his shoulder, silently asking if he was okay.

I told him, "You heard her, Lloyd. Let her finish, and then we can see if there's anything left of the clinic."

Sheena asked, "Do you know about the human ranch northeast of here? The people of this city had been hiding some folks who escaped from the ranch. The Desians found out about it, and not only was the entire population forced to go to the ranch, but the city was destroyed."

Amber gasped and covered her mouth, "That's...that's just..."

Sarah finished her sentence, "Really awful. ...How did you get hurt?"

Colette seemed curious, "Yeah…how were you injured?"

Sheena answered, "It's nothing. I was just a little clumsy."

A few moments later, a pastor cried out, "Aah! Help me, please!

Lloyd gasped, "Th-that's!…"

The pastor soon came into view, being pursued by the mutated Clara.

Raine added, "It's Clara. She managed to get all the way here."

I sighed, "Great…" I didn't want Sheena to get any more injured than she already was, so I leapt into the fray and defended the pastor, approaching Clara with my crossbow drawn, and warned her to stay back.

Clara didn't seem to heed my words and I fired a bolt at her. It missed and she growled, slashing at my chest. I deflected her overlarge arm with the crossbow, the clawed hand instead cutting up my stomach. I was wounded and cried out, "Ugh!" (I still couldn't feel things but that was my way of letting them know I got hurt.)

Amber and Sarah started to come towards me, but I shook my head at them, a silent way of telling them to stay back or they could get hurt as well.

Sheena glared and shouted, "Pyre Seal!" She charged at Clara.

Clara swung her arm at Sheena.

Sheena nimbly dodged.

Lloyd mumbled, "Dammit!"

Colette took out her pink iridescent wings and flew over to Clara. She told her, "Clara, please calm down!"

Clara attacked Colette and then fled the scene.

Colette's angel wings vanished and she lost her balance, falling to the floor.

Lloyd asked her, "Are you okay, Colette?"

Amber and Sarah looked at Colette as well.

Colette nodded, "Y-yes." She got up.

A few moments later, Kratos finally spoke, "It seems she's lost a lot of blood." He was, of course, referring to Sheena.

Lloyd told him, "Yeah, you're right. Professor, please heal her."

Colette pleaded, "Professor, please!"

Raine sighed, annoyed at them, "…Fine. But I swear, you're all way too softhearted for your own good." She cast her healing spell on Sheena, and then came over and healed me as well.

Sheena stood up, fully healed, and asked, "Why did you save me?"

Lloyd told her, "Probably for the…" He coughed, then finished, "for the same reason you helped save that man. Ohh…my stomach."

Sheena nodded and told them, "Thanks. I know it's probably a selfish thing to ask at this point, but I have a favor to ask of you."

Lloyd seemed confused, "A favor?"

Sheena explained, "I owe the people of this city for food and lodging. Please, help me save these people. If you agree to it, I'll declare a truce with you and help out in any way I can."

Amber smiled, "You seem like a nice enough person, once you get past the 'trying to kill Colette' part. Sure."

Sarah added, nodding, "Welcome to the group, as far as I'm concerned."

I smiled, "I wouldn't mind having you on our side either, Sheena. What does everyone else say?"

Lloyd nodded, "All right."

Raine looked at Lloyd and me like we had gone totally bonkers, "Amber, Sarah, Lloyd, Joanna, are you all serious?"

Colette replied, "I agree with them."

Raine got a somewhat defeated look and said, "Colette, not you too!"

Lloyd looked to Kratos, "What do you say about it?"

Kratos shrugged, "I see no problem with it."

Genis blinked, torn between agreeing with his sister and agreeing with his best friend. He finally said, "Ah…um…I'm sorry, Raine!"

Raine grumbled and added, "Fine! Do as you wish. I suppose if we look at it another way, it does mean we can keep a close eye on her."

Sheena smiled, "Heh…You'd better watch out so you don't lose your head while you sleep."

I told her, "Don't even try it. By the way, I'm Joanna." I then looked to the others, "Shouldn't we wait for Lloyd to get better though? I don't think he should travel with his recent illness…"

Amber introduced herself, "I'm Amber."

Sarah nodded to Sheena, "Sarah."

I looked at them as if saying, 'That's all well and good but shut up. Kratos is about to talk.'

Kratos nodded, "She's right, Lloyd. You stay in Asgard with Raine and the rest of us will take care of the ranch."

Lloyd started to argue, "But-" He was cut off, starting to collapse to the floor.

Sheena gasped, "…What's wrong with him?"

I sighed, moving to catch Lloyd, but Kratos beat me to it, "I don't know, but he's been sick since this morning. We're thinking it might have been something he ate…since it's mostly been his stomach bothering him."

Raine nodded, "Yes, I'll stay with him and take care of him. I think you can all handle yourselves without me, can't you?"

I smiled, "Yep. Quite capable. Amber, Sarah, you two go on back with Lloyd and Raine. You have no weapons...so you would only slow us down and be a hindrance to me. I can't fight as well when trying to protect someone."

With no further ado, Raine, Lloyd, Amber, and Sarah all headed back to Asgard while the rest of us went to the ranch.

Genis spoke up, "The security is very intense. It's completely different from last time."

Sheena nodded, "Yea…even if we did get inside…"

I told them, "There is a way in though…"

Sheena told me, "Joanna, I bet you're thinking the same thing I am."

Colette asked, "What? What are we going to do?"

Genis answered her, "We're going to disguise ourselves as Desians and sneak in to the ranch."

Colette said, "Oh, I see! If we look like Desians, we won't get caught."  
I smiled and nodded, "Exactly, Colette!"

Sheena told me, "That's quite a daring plan, Joanna."

I shrugged, "It's not the best one in the world, but there's really nothing else we can do, so you have to work with what you have."

Kratos told us, "…The Desian patrol is here. What should we do?"

Sheena replied, "Let's do it!"

Colette agreed with Sheena, "Yeah!"

Genis nodded and told them, "Okay…let's hide behind those bushes so we can ambush them."

While we were hiding, 3 Desian soldiers approached and we jumped out of our hiding spots, attacking them.

After we defeated them, I suggested, "We should go back to Luin first."

Kratos nodded, "She's right. We never know when the enemy might spot us."

Sheena replied, "Yeah, you're right."

We went back to Luin to regroup and Kratos built us a small campfire just outside the ruined city.

Genis, sounding a bit scared and nervous, said, "We're finally going to infiltrate the ranch."

I nodded and replied, "Yep, we sure are. Oh, but first we'll have to choose who will be the Desian."

Colette looked confused, "What do you mean, Joanna?"

Sheena replied, "It looks like only one of the Desian uniforms we just obtained can be used. So everyone else is going to have to be prisoners."

Genis gasped and answered, "Me! Me! I'll be the Desian!"

Kratos sighed and told him, "...This is not a game."

I took the Desian uniform from Sheena and went to go change. When I came back, I was dressed up like the female Desians.

Genis complained, "Hey, that's not fair, Joanna!"

I replied, "It's not about fairness. This will look the most natural, and it's a uniform meant for females. You wouldn't be able to wear it anyway."

Sheena went to go change really fast too and when she came back, we matched.

I smirked, "Heh...you ready?"

Sheena nodded, "Yeah."

Genis asked, glancing curiously and suspiciously at Sheena, "Why do you have Desian clothes too?"

Sheena told him, bluntly, "I was going to infiltrate the ranch on my own."

I sighed and said, "Enough, you two. Anyway, let's go."

Genis nodded, "Yeah."

After a while, I added, "Why don't we go first thing in the morning? It's kind of late now."  
Sheena and everyone else nodded in agreement.

They all went to bed and went to sleep, except for Kratos, Colette, and me since we couldn't sleep.

I sighed, "Well, looks like things are going as planned for the most part."

Yuan appeared at the next moment and asked, "So, how did it go?"

I glared up at him, "It went just fine. Lloyd's very sick now, so I hope you're happy."

Kratos was sitting there quietly. I think that inwardly though, he was beating himself up about not having thrown the bad bread away.

Yuan nodded, "Good...why are you dressed like that?"

I added, "We're going to infiltrate one of the human ranches tomorrow. We attacked one of the patrols and took their uniforms."

Yuan responded, "...Okay then." He looked kind of impressed, though I'm not sure, "Are you sure that they can handle it?"

I sighed and nodded, "Yes, Yuan. And besides...I think Kratos has some personal, prior involvement with this one."

Kratos glared over at us. I guess he heard me.

Sighing, I told him, "Kratos, you can stop listening in now. Don't you have something better to do, like guard the Chosen?"

Colette spoke quietly, sitting up without making a sound, "I can take care of myself, Joanna...but thanks for thinking of me."

I gave her a small smile and nod, then looked to Yuan, "...So, that's all I really have to report. Lloyd is sick in Asgard, Raine's there with him, taking care of him; my friends Amber and Sarah are with them and Kratos, Sheena, Genis, Colette, and I are going to infiltrate the ranch in the morning." I looked at Kratos, "...Assuming you're still okay with...hey, where'd he go?" He had flown off without even saying a word. I sighed, "Well, anyways, I don't have anything else so...see you tomorrow night?"

Yuan nodded, "Yes, and don't worry about Kratos. If I'm guessing correctly, he's probably gone to help Raine heal him."

I responded, "Good assumption to make. Bye then, Yuan."

Yuan replied, "Bye." He then disappeared.

Sighing, I looked toward the ranch, "...Kvar, just you wait. You'll get what's coming to you in the morning."

Kratos seemed to come up from behind me out of nowhere and said, "And what do you have against Kvar?"

I sighed, "My parents were killed by Desians that served under that man. So, naturally, I'll hold some hatred for him." I hesitated to mention that I knew about his prior involvement with Kvar.

Kratos seemed satisfied with my answer.

I asked, "So...how's Lloyd?"

Kratos responded, "He's doing better. Raine managed to cure the poison that was in the bread with a Panacea Bottle and some Elixir. She believes he'll be better the day after tomorrow."

I sighed, "...That sucks. I was kind of hoping he would be better by tomorrow morning so he could help us with the ranch."

Kratos smirked, "I said that's what _Raine_ thinks. Lloyd's a pretty stubborn kid and speedy healer. If I know him, he'll drag himself to the ranch tomorrow regardless of his condition."

I giggled, "Yeah...that's true. He's like you in that regard."  
Kratos crossed his arms, "Hmph. I'm not _that_ stubborn."

I cuffed Kratos playfully on the arm, "Hey, I was just joking. You really should learn to lighten up a bit."

Kratos sighed, "...You will be the death of me, all of you."

I smiled, "It's better to die happy than to live miserably."

Kratos raised an eyebrow at me, "...And you are all kinds of strange."

I bowed, as if accepting applause, "Thank you thank you, I'll be here all night."

Kratos looked at me as if I was totally insane and that set me off laughing.

Colette giggled too as she heard me laughing and asked, once she had collected herself, "What's so funny, Joanna?"

I replied, "Just the way Kratos looked after I said 'Thank you thank you I'll be here all night.'"

Morning came a few hours later and we left for the ranch.

During this time, Lloyd came, dragging himself to us.

Raine followed him.

I sighed, "Lloyd..."

Lloyd told me, "You won't be able to get in there without me. After all, I'm a wanted criminal according to the Desians..." He still seemed a little pale, but he wasn't running off to go throw up, so I guessed he was feeling better.

Once we got to the ranch, we approached the Desian guards with Lloyd, Raine, Colette, Genis and Kratos portraying as captives and Sheena and me playing the Desians.

One Desian guard said, "Stop!"

I told him, "We've done it!"

The second guard looked lost, "...Done what?"

I added, "We've found the wanted criminal, Lloyd Irving." At this point, I was trying hard not to laugh my head off at the idea of Lloyd as a criminal.

The guard answered, "What?! Good work! And you've even caught him alive!"

I responded, "I want to turn him over to the Five Grand Cardinals immediately. Let me through." The guard nodded, "Understood. Go on in!" We successfully navigated our way into the control room of the ranch and I sighed, ditching the uniform and putting on a black tank top, blue shorts, and some moccasin-like shoes, in a corner of the room so no one would see me in just my undies. Raine went to look out the window and told us, "It looks like this is an Exsphere manufacturing plant."  
Kratos nodded in agreement, "...So it would seem."  
I gasped and said, "These are all Exspheres? Incredible..." Lloyd, Colette, and Genis soon caught up with Sheena, Kratos, Raine, and I. Colette tensed and shuddered a bit, saying, "Shh...I can hear voices coming from the next room."  
Genis replied quietly, "I don't hear anything."  
Lloyd and I both warned Genis, "Be careful anyway."  
I smirked and said, "Jinx! You owe me a soda."  
Lloyd got confused, "Huh?"  
I sighed, "Never mind."  
Botta came into the room, with 2 of the Renegade soldiers following him. He looked over to Lloyd, glaring a bit, "Hmm?! You!"  
Lloyd looked a bit nervous and said, "Uh-oh, these are the Desians we ran into at the Triet Desert!"  
One of the soldiers said, "They still think we're Desians!"  
Botta looked at me, his arms crossed, "You haven't...?"  
I blinked, trying to sound flabbergasted at his accusations, "What? I don't know what you're..."  
The other soldier cut me off and said, "Sir, this is the perfect chance!"  
Kratos responded, "...Are you looking for a fight?"  
Botta replied to the soldier, "Wait. Kratos is with them. We'll retreat for now."  
Lloyd looked at me and Kratos, "You two know him?"  
Kratos told him, "I suppose, if you mean the fact that we ran into them at Iselia and Triet." Botta then added, "I think it would be in both our interests for us not to fight here." He glanced to me and blinked, smirking a bit, "...You know of what I speak"  
I glared, "Oh, shut your trap already, Botta."

Joanna earned the title: **Triple-Threat!** She serves the Renegades, Cruxis, and Lloyd's group. Can you trust this one?

Kratos added, "Do as you will." Botta and the 2 Renegades attempted to flee the scene. Lloyd and the others attempted to catch them. The other door opened and 3 Desian Spellcasters appeared at the scene, casting magic at our group. Before we could get hit by the magic, though, Kratos performed Guardian and shielded us from the magic. It seemed like time stopped for Colette and Kratos, for they stood there frozen for a few moments. Lloyd shouted, "Colette! Kratos!"  
Botta and the 2 Renegade soldiers fled the scene. Colette, who was in a defensive stance, turned to face the rest of us, "I'm okay."  
Kratos added, "No time for that. Look behind you!" Another man appeared at the scene. It was Kvar. Lloyd turned around, "Huh?"  
Kvar replied, "Well, this is a surprise. When I heard we had some rats, I assumed it was the Renegade, Botta, but instead I find the wanted inferior beings… But I must say that I'm quite impressed that you're still alive after that attack."  
I glared at him, "...Don't look so surprised, Kvar. We're not that weak."  
Kvar looked at me, confused, "...And who are you to speak so boldly to me, inferior being?" Lloyd responded, "Who are _you_?"  
Kratos told him, "He's Kvar, one of the Five Desian Grand Cardinals."  
Kvar smirked and said, "Hahaha...ah. I see that some of you know me. It's just as Forcystus said."  
Lloyd looked like he was really starting to get mad.  
Kvar continued, "That Exsphere is without a doubt the product of my Angelus Project!" Some of the Desian soldiers showed up. Colette threw her chakram at Kvar, but he evaded. Lloyd looked to Colette and told her, "Good job, Colette! Let's go, everyone!" We ran out of the control room and into the manufacturing plant part.  
We found our way to a dead end, which had a window that showed humans on conveyor belts. Lloyd got a shocked look on his face and said, "Wh…what is this?!" We saw the humans being taken via conveyor belts to containers. Kvar showed up with the Desian soldiers.  
After a few moments of silence, he said, "This is where the Exspheres are removed from the host bodies." We turned around to face him, finally.  
Raine spoke up and said, "Do you mean that Exspheres are made from…human bodies?" She looked really surprised when she said this.  
Kvar told her, "Not exactly. Exspheres are dormant at first. They extract nourishment from humans to grow and awaken. Human ranches are Exsphere manufacturing plants. Why else would we spend our time raising and taking care of these inferior beings?"  
I glared, "I'll show you inferior being, you..."  
Kratos grabbed my hand and shook his head, telling me not to do anything stupid.  
Genis told Kvar, "That's terrible!"  
Kvar looked surprised at him and replied, "Terrible? Terrible is what you've done. Stealing and using Exspheres that we've invested so much time and care in creating. You deserve to be punished." The Desian soldiers quickly surrounded us.  
I sighed, "Just great..."  
Lloyd said, "Damn! We're surrounded..."  
Kvar then added, "Lloyd, your Exsphere was to be an offering to Lord Yggdrasill. It's time you gave it back."  
Raine then replied, "Yggdrasill...I suppose that's the name of your leader."  
Kvar nodded and answered, "Yes. Now, for the sake of our great leader, Yggdrasill and for the sake of my own success, I need that Exsphere!"  
Lloyd asked him in a very demanding and angered tone, "Again?! What's so special about my Exsphere?"  
Kvar answered, "That Exsphere is the result of years of time-consuming research. It belonged to experimental subject A0192, human name--Anna, your mother. She escaped the facility with it and remained at large for a long time. Of course, she paid for that crime with her life."  
Lloyd glared even more at him. At this point, if looks could kill, Kvar would be dead many times over, "You killed my-?"  
Kvar shook his head, replying, "Now, now, calm down. I'm not the one who killed her. Your father did."  
Kratos was giving Kvar an icy glare and told him, clenching his hand tightly into a fist, "...Do not speak ill of the dead."  
Sheena chimed in, "We've gotta get out of here!" She mumbled, "I'm gonna use the last one, Grandpa."  
She threw a smoke bomb and a Guardian-Wind appeared, teleporting us out of the area.

* * *

A/N: Again, sorry for taking forever to add this chapter. At least I got it up though. I will update again in a few weeks hopefully, and if not, then in a month.


	7. Chapter 7

A/n: Sorry for the lateness in updating! I've been really busy lately and haven't had much time to do it! Also, some of the mini-quests have been taken out in order to make the story run smoother. Anyway, there's a lot more content in this chapter than any of the previous chapters (I think), so be sure to review!

Chapter 7

Luin and Hima, Asgard Ranch Part II, the Seal of Light, and Traveling to Salvation

We arrived back in the devastated city of Luin not a moment too soon. Sighing in relief, I looked to Sheena and told her, "Thank you so much for helping us back there."

Sheena nodded to me, a small smile on her face, and said, "Ah, you're welcome. So what should we do now?"

Kratos spoke up, "Perhaps it would be best to abandon the situation here for World Regeneration."

Lloyd, Raine, Genis, and Sheena now all looked at the Exspheres on the backs of their hands somberly.

Lloyd then put his arm out, as if trying to separate the Exsphere from himself, "Dammit! This...thing!"

Genis, Raine, and Sheena all glanced up at Lloyd. They didn't say anything but their expressions gave away the concern they were feeling for their friend.

I started to say, "Lloyd, don't, that's--!" I stopped myself though, realizing that if I revealed the fact that Anna's consciousness still existed somewhere within the Exsphere, Raine, Lloyd, and Kratos would all question me about how I knew something like that. I wasn't in the mood to answer questions, so I said nothing more for the moment.

Kratos spoke again and told Lloyd, "But we would've lost long ago had we not had them."

I nodded, glancing down at the Cruxis Crystal on my hand. I wondered who had been sacrificed to make it, but stopped that train of thought before it went any further. I added, "Kratos is right, you know. If not for these things, the Desians would've probably killed us by now...not to mention the seal guardians."

Lloyd replied with a shaky voice, "Don't you think I know that? We can fight because we have these. I know that, but these things exist as a result of taking someone's life! They make a mockery out of human life!" He then removed his Exsphere from his Key Crest and pulled his hand back as if he was going to throw it away.

Reacting quickly, Kratos grabbed Lloyd's wrist and replied, "And? I'm sure the people that were attached to these Exspheres did not want to die, but I doubt they'd want to be thrown away after being turned into Exspheres."

Colette added, "My opinion may not matter much because I don't use an Exsphere..."

In the back of my mind, I was thinking _Yes, you are Colette. It's a more evolved form of one, you just don't know it yet._ However, I stayed quiet so Colette could finish what she was saying.

She continued, "but if we don't regenerate the world soon, more people will lose their lives to these stones. I don't want that to happen. I don't want this journey to be meaningless. But, I do believe that the Desians will defeat us if we throw away our Exspheres now."

Kratos nodded, in total agreement with what she was saying, "The Chosen is right. We can throw away the Exspheres at any time, but for now, we must carry the weight of the hopes and dreams of those victims; fight for their sake, as well as ours."

Genis replied, nodding his head, "This is Marble's life..."

Raine sighed and added, "People are sinful creatures. Life survives at the cost of another. Then we must continue to bear the burden of our sins for as long as we continue to live."

Sheena responded, "Life survives at the cost of another? I may not know much about this, but I don't think there's any way to justify the lives taken to make Exspheres."

I glanced down at the Cruxis Crystal on my hand, then back up at everyone else, "...We can't just leave those poor people at the ranch though, Kratos! My parents died there, and I'd hate for anyone else to share the same fate."

Colette looked to Kratos, then at me. She then looked at Raine and said, "She's right. If we don't defeat Kvar now, he'll just keep attacking village after village. Please, Kratos, Professor Sage...let's save those people at the ranch first."

I nodded in agreement, "After we do that, we should head to Hima. We might be able to find some clues about the fourth seal there."

Kratos replied, looking only at Colette. Boy did I ever feel loved... "Very well, Chosen. We shall do as you have asked. How will we get inside now? Kvar has no doubt increased his security and changed the pass codes."

I looked to Sheena and asked her, "You were staying at Luin, right? Do you know if anyone managed to escape the ranch?"

Sheena blinked, "...Well, that came out of nowhere. Yes, I was staying at Luin. However, I don't know for certain if anyone did escape. I mean, I may know one or two people that found a way out, but...anyone that did escape wouldn't have come back to this place. They would've gotten as far as possible from the ranch. By now, they'd probably be on the other side of the continent."

I added, "I've heard rumors and whispers that someone named Pietro managed to escape the ranch."

Sheena looked at me in surprise, "Are you sure of that? You can't trust all rumors, you know."

I sighed and replied, "I have my sources and I'm positive. I also heard that he was last seen in Hima, walking around the graveyard. We should go there in the morning...if that's all right with you, Colette."

Colette smiled and nodded, "Yep, I'm fine with it. We can look for clues about the next seal there too!"

I nodded, my eyes trailing over to Kratos and Raine, "After we all get some sleep, we'll leave for Hima first thing in the morning...if that's all right with you, Kratos, Raine."

Kratos responded, "I have no objections."

Raine replied, "I'm all right with that plan."

Sheena spoke again, "Yeah, I'm fine with it too." She yawned and began to build a campfire, Genis helping her by using his Fireball spell to light the wood.

After the fire was ready, Raine volunteered to cook.

I knew right away what her cooking was like and told her, "Oh...that's okay, Raine. I think it's Genis's turn to cook anyway." I tried not to giggle at remembering that Kratos had to cast First Aid on himself after eating what she prepared.

Genis nodded, "She's right. It's my turn, Raine."

Kratos spoke up, "Actually, it is her turn. Just let her cook something. What could be so horrible about it?"

I blinked, "Kratos...don't. Just don't eat it, trust me on this one." While I did find it humorous, I did not want to be there when Kratos almost got sick. It would make me feel even more pity for him despite the fact that he would've brought it on himself.

Lloyd nodded, "She's right. You...don't wanna eat the Professor's—Oww!" He was cut off by Raine smacking him in the back of his head

Raine said, "It's not that bad, Lloyd, honestly. It's not like my cooking has killed anyone."

I added, hoping she wouldn't hear, "Yet."

Genis couldn't help but chuckle at what I said. He then looked at Raine, "...All right, but just this once. You won't impress Kratos though."

Kratos crossed his arms, having not eaten Raine's cooking yet, "We'll see, Genis."

After a little while, Raine had something ready. It was an omelette with diced tomatoes and onions on top.

I told Raine, "Umm...Raine, you know that Kratos doesn't...agh!" I barely dodged her smack that time, her hand hitting thin air.

Raine replied, "Shush. Here, Kratos, try this." She handed him the still-warm omelette.

Kratos took a bite of the omelette, struggling to keep the egg with tomatoes on top down. He told her, with his eyes watering, "It's...delicious."

I giggled now, unable to contain the laughter anymore.

Raine smiled, "Really? Well, do you want more?"

Kratos was actually looking pretty green now and replied, "No! That's quite...all right Raine." He walked a fair distance away and cast First Aid on himself I sighed, "...Kratos, I warned you, ya know."

Kratos nodded, "From now on, I think I'll listen to you when you warn me about her cooking."

I responded, "Good..." I then looked to Genis, "So what are you cooking up?"

Genis, standing over the fire, replied, "Just some curry. Eh...don't worry Kratos. I didn't put any tomatoes in it. I know that you and Lloyd both hate tomatoes. Whoa...that's...weird. Why do you hate some of the same things?"

I shrugged, "It happens sometimes." I knew better than to disclose Kratos's secrets. I would have my head handed to me on a silver platter if I said anything, "One of my friends has a birthday the day before mine, same year and everything."

Lloyd looked over at me, "Okay, that's just plain scary. Oh...by the way, how old are you?"

Raine elbowed him, "It's rude to ask a woman her age."

I replied, "No, it's okay, Raine. I don't mind telling. I'm...22. My birthday is on July 25th."

Lloyd nodded, "Cool, so you're only a year or two younger than the Professor."

I responded, "That's right, Lloyd. You got a problem with that?"

Lloyd shook his head, "Nah, I was just taking notice. So..." He yawned a bit, after he finished his curry, "We're going to Hima in the morning to find this Pietro guy, right?"

I nodded, "Yes, Lloyd. Why don't you go on to sleep if you're so tired?" I sighed and then added, "I'm gonna go for a little walk."

Sheena asked, "Do you want me to come with you? None of us should wander alone."

I shook my head, "Nah, I'll be fine. I won't go that far. I just need some time to think.."

Sheena replied, "Well..all right, but be careful."

Lloyd went to sleep, curled up next to the fire.

Genis, Sheena, Amber, Sarah, and Raine soon followed suit, leaving only Kratos, Colette and I as the only ones still awake.

I sighed, "...It's so close..."

Kratos looked at me, "What is?"

I answered, "The end of the journey...and of Colette's life...err, I mean..."

Kratos looked at me suspiciously, "And how do you know that?"

I replied, "Umm....heh, I read it in a book once. The Chosen sacrifices his or her life in order to regenerate the world. My father was a priest serving in the Church of Martel...and my mom was a teacher. I asked my dad about the Chosen and he explained everything then, and showed me the book where it was found. I was...I guess 13 at the time. It didn't surprise me that much for some reason."

Kratos still had a suspicious look, but he seemed to accept my story and didn't say another word.

Morning came, and we left Luin shortly after everyone was up.

Upon arriving in Hima, we saw something going on in front of the inn.

Clara had returned! Unfortunately though, she was being attacked by a group of adventurers who had no clue who she really was.

I shouted, "Hey, back off, jerks! It's not what you think!"

They didn't respond and Lloyd, Colette, and Raine ran over.

Lloyd told them, "Stop!"

Finally responding, the adventurers turned to Lloyd, "Why should we? This monster tried to attack Hima!"

Angered, Clara lashed out, hitting Colette and knocking her into Raine. She then ran off, dropping the key to the Tower of Mana.

I picked it up and shouted, "Thank you, Clara!"

Lloyd looked at Colette and Raine, "Colette, Professor, are you two okay?"

Colette smiled, "Yeah, I'm fine."

Raine nodded, "I'm quite all right, Lloyd."

Sheena spoke up, "Oh by the way, the guy that escaped the ranch that is here, his name is Pietro. I know him. He has a sister named Sophia."

Lloyd looked a bit confused, "And umm...why do you know him?"

If I didn't know better, I'd have sworn there was a bit of jealousy in Lloyd's voice.

Sheena responded, "It doesn't matter, does it? I have my reasons."

Lloyd replied, "Well, all right. Let's go and find this Pietro guy then."

We headed into the inn to find Sophia. Once we found her, she called out to Sheena, "Sheena!"

Sheena told her, "Hey, Sophia. How's Pietro?"

Sophia answered, looking really nervous and biting her lip, "Umm...he's...passed away."

Not wanting to waste time, I grabbed Sophia and slammed her on the wall, forgetting about my angelic-enhanced strength, "That's a flat-out lie! He's alive, isn't he? Where is he?"

Sophia trembled, "I...I just...he's..."

Even Kratos seemed surprised by my actions. He walked over and placed a hand on my right shoulder, "Joanna...how do you know she is lying?"

I replied, "I've always been good at sensing it when someone's lying, just like I can get a general sense of what others in the room are feeling." I glanced at Sheena, a bit sheepishly, "Don't worry, Sheena, I won't kill her. I just want to know where he is."

Sophia replied, "...I...I don't know."

Lloyd told her, "We heard he escaped from the human ranch. Do you know how he managed to do it?"

Sophia shook his head, "No, I don't...but please, don't bother him! He's not in a good condition right now." She trembled under my grasp and asked, "Could...you let me go, please? I..."

I sighed and let go, "Fine. We'll do what we want though, and ask him how he got away." I then asked, "Does he hang around the graveyard, by any chance? Because...I heard that's where all the ranch escapees that died from the curse were buried."

Sophia sighed and nodded, "Yeah, that's probably where he is now. But...I'm not even really that certain he..."

I replied, "That's all we needed to know. Thank you." I then walked out the door and headed to the graveyard to talk to Pietro.

Lloyd shrugged and followed me.

Kratos followed Lloyd and everyone followed him.

Once we got there, Pietro approached Colette, in a very abnormal state, "Chosen…mana…d…die."

Genis looked confused, "Eh? What's he saying?"

I replied, "He said "Chosen, Mana, die...""

Sophia soon came out to the graveyard, and added, "There you are."

Pietro turned to her and said monotonously, "Chosen…die…angel…die… Human…ranch…underground…"

Sophia told him, "You mustn't come out here, you know. It's not good for you, especially because of that curse. Let's go."

Raine said, "The curse is a secondary concern at the moment. We need to know how he escaped the human ranch right now."

Sophia replied, "I'm not sure that he..."

I glared, "Don't even try to say he didn't. How do you think he got the curse in the first place?!" I then turned to Lloyd, "You're good at getting information out of people. Try to get Pietro to tell us something useful."

Lloyd blinked, "Uh...okay." He walked over to Sophia and Pietro, "How did you get away from the human ranch?"

Pietro replied, still using a monotone, "Boulder…big…underground…jewel…boulder…move…Chosen…"

I nodded, "Got it, Pietro. Thank you."

Kratos asked, "How did you manage to make sense out of that, Joanna? Is that the escape route?"

Sophia begged of Lloyd, Kratos, and me, "Please, let him be!"

Sheena told Sophia, "Now listen here! You may be happy just protecting Pietro, but because of this guy, countless people from Luin are dead! How about helping us just a little? It can't hurt anything."

Sophia sighed and added, "I'm sure Pietro has many things he wants to say, but because of the curse, he's been turned into this zombie-like state."

Lloyd responded, "But he's still alive. The dead can't even tell us that they were scared. Please. Help us. You won't regret it."

Colette nodded in agreement and replied, "We want to go to the ranch. If it's possible to get out, it's possible to get back in, right? Please. We want to help the people that are still being held captive there..."

Sophia then told her, "I'm willing to help you, but in exchange, I want you to lift Pietro's curse. The healing technique left behind by Boltzman is in the Tower of Mana. That will probably work for lifting his curse."

Raine nodded, "All right. But infiltrating the ranch comes first. I won't relinquish that."

Sophia told Raine, "...When he escaped the ranch, he said he came out through the front yard and blocked the exit with a boulder. His things are in one of the graves. Take them with you."

Colette smiled and told Sophia, "Thank you. We'll come back when we get the healing technique."

I nodded and told Colette, "We might as well break the fourth seal while we're there, right? After we defeat Kvar? We'll be killing two birds with one stone that way."

Raine replied, "You raise a good point as always, Joanna. All right. We'll do that."

Lloyd looked confused, "How can you kill two birds with only one stone?" I sighed, "It's an expression, Lloyd. It means we'll get two things done at the same time if we release the fourth seal when we go to get the healing technique to save Pietro. Anyway, we should all rest for the night, and we'll go to the ranch first thing in the morning."

After I dug up Pietro's grave and brought back the Desian Orb, I handed it to Raine. I hadn't had my meeting the previous night with Yuan because it would've been too noticeable in what was left of Luin, and I had a lot that I would need to report to him, especially this recent development. I would also have to ask him if it was he and the Renegades that helped Pietro escape. After all, they were supposed to look a lot like the Desians. It wouldn't surprise me if they had a few operatives on the inside.

Kratos nodded, "I'm agreeable with that...Colette?" Colette smiled, "That's fine. That'll give us a few hours to rest anyway." So, we reserved two rooms for the night, one for the girls (Raine excluded because she wanted to share with Genis) and one for the guys. After I was sure everyone (save Kratos and Colette for obvious reasons, by this point) was asleep, I snuck out of the inn and met Yuan outside.

I said, "Hey, Yuan. Sorry I couldn't meet you last night. A lot's happened and I didn't have time."

Yuan nodded, "That's quite all right. It's only one night. What difference could that possibly make?"

I told him, "Actually, a big difference. We got caught by Kvar when we went into the ranch, but we are planning on trying again to defeat him. This time, though, we're taking a secret route that the escapee Pietro found. After that, we're heading to the Tower of Mana to release the fourth seal and get Boltzman's healing technique to save Pietro from a curse. Oh, by the way, do you have people on the inside of the Desian ranches?"

Yuan responded, "In a few of them. Asgard Ranch is one of the few...why?"

I replied, "I was just wondering. It seemed strange that Pietro would manage to escape on his own. Did any of your operatives help him escape?"

Yuan nodded, "Yes, actually. When no one was looking, two of them smuggled him to the escape route...but you mustn't speak of this to anyone, not even Kratos."

I smiled, "Of course, I won't say a word. Anyway, that does it for my report. Do you have anything to tell me, Yuan?"

Yuan blinked, "...No, not for the moment. When I do, I'll let you know." He teleported back to the Renegade base in Triet.

Sighing, I went back inside. Morning came, and we headed out for the ranch. When we got there, we examined the boulder that blocked the escape route Pietro had taken.

Lloyd observed, "This is it, the one Pietro was talking about."

I nodded, "Definitely...and Raine, don't bother telling him to try and move it. It won't budge without that Desian Orb."

Raine blinked, but then nodded. She placed the Desian Orb on a little niche in the boulder and it slid aside, revealing the secret entrance. We entered the ranch through the special entrance we revealed and ran into 2 Desian soldiers shortly thereafter.

The Desians said, in unison, "Who the hell are you?!"

I smirked, "Wouldn't you like to know?" We fought the soldiers for about 30 minutes before finally killing them.

After that, Raine went over to the computer thing and examined it. She muttered, as if to herself, "Let's bring up the ranch-wide map." She activated the computer and brought up the map.

Needless to say, Lloyd was amazed and told her, "Professor, you're fantastic!"

Sheena responded, "So there are people on this side who can operate machines, too…"

Genis looked confused, "On this side?"

Sheena giggled a bit nervously and said, "Nothing, just talking to myself."

Raine looked at the map and said, "This is where we are." She lit up the area we were in with a flashing little red light, then added, "And this is where Kvar should be." She lit up where Kvar was with a flashing white light. After examining the map thoroughly, she said, "It appears that in order to get to the floor that Kvar is on, we'll have to deactivate the guard system."

Colette looked confused at her words, "Guard...system?"

Raine told her, "Here." She highlighted where the guard system was in blue light, "If we don't deactivate this, we won't be able to get to Kvar."

Lloyd looked pissed and replied, "Then what are we going to do?"

Kratos sighed and told him, "Calm down, Lloyd. There should be a switch to deactivate the system."

Raine looked at the map again and nodded, "Here it is." She had the places with the switches lit up in orange light, "See the two switches at the end of the left-right passageway? Those are the deactivation switches."

Lloyd nodded, "Okay then, let's deactivate it."

Raine told him, "Hold on, Lloyd. I'll bring up the route to Kvar's room." She thought for a minute and then added, "It looks like the conveyor belt prevents passage through there. In order to stop that, we'll need to stop the conveyor belt control mechanism, but…it seems it's constructed in such a way that you can't get close to the control mechanism while containers are on the conveyor… …Let's see, in order to adjust the container dispatch control system…" An alarm went off, and the computer thingy froze up.

Raine cursed, "Dammit. They've detected my access of the main computer."

I nodded, "I expected they would eventually. The Desians are anything but stupid."

Genis gulped, "Lloyd, what do we do?! The Desians will be here any minute!"

Lloyd cursed our luck, saying, "Dammit!"

Raine faced Lloyd and told him, "It looks like we don't have any choice. Let's split into two teams to deactivate the system and to infiltrate Kvar's room."

Genis looked really surprised, "What? We're going to split up?!"

Kratos sighed and said, "There seems to be no other way. I would like to be in the group that goes after Kvar."

Again, I knew his reasons, but I said nothing about it.

Genis put in his two cents, "Yeah, me too!"

Sheena added, not to be beaten by a twelve-year-old, "And me."

Raine turned to Colette, "Colette, please choose for us."

Colette replied, "Well umm...then..." She looked at Lloyd, "I'll leave it to Lloyd."

I smirked, "Heh...you really wanna do that, Colette?"

Genis replied, "Yeah, are you sure? He lives only by instinct and intuition."

Lloyd responded, "What's that supposed to mean? Anyway, I'm the one that's gonna pick? I'm going to Kvar. I want to avenge Mom." He walked over to Genis.  
The half-elven boy asked, "You are going to take me along, right?"

Lloyd nodded and told him, "Yeah, be part of the infiltration team."

Genis smiled and gave a thumbs up, "That's what I wanted to hear!"

Lloyd smiled back, then walked over to Kratos. Kratos told him, "I desire to fight Kvar. Please, Lloyd. Take me with you."

Lloyd nodded, "Of course. Be part of the infiltration team."

I responded, "That still leaves us uneven. You'll need to choose one more person, Lloyd...and please, don't choose me. I'd rather help Raine if I can...but, like Colette said, it's up to you, so I won't say any more."

Lloyd told me, "You're being part of the infiltration team too, Joanna."

Raine nodded and said, "I understand. Leave the other team to me, then."

Lloyd nodded and responded, "Let's meet up in Kvar's control room."

After splitting up, Lloyd led Kratos, Genis and I to the manufacturing plant part of the ranch, while Raine and the others deactivated the guard system. (It's happening at the same time, so I'm not going to post both.) We increased the amount of fire the Sorcerer's Ring let out and went to the container delivery control system.

Lloyd commented, "If we stop this, we can prevent the captives from turning into monsters." After examining the control, I activated the switch, which shutdown the container delivery system. The machine that delivered the Exsphere containers to the conveyor belt was shutdown. We headed back into the manufacturing part of the ranch and used the Sorcerer's ring to destroy the six containers keeping the conveyor belts active. The conveyor belts stopped moving after we did that and we moved on to the next area.

Lloyd stepped onto the teleporter and said, "Prepare yourself, Kvar!" After about 45 minutes of waiting, the teleporter reacted and teleported Lloyd to Kvar's room. Kratos followed him, then Genis, then me.

Lloyd said boldly, "I've found you, Kvar!"

We approached Kvar and Pronyma observed, "So, this is Lloyd. I see, he does bear a resemblance."

Lloyd looked puzzled at the reference. Yuan had said the same thing...what were they talking about?

Kvar, merely glancing at us over his shoulder, replied, "So you've come. I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't change the subject, Pronyma! It's clear you've been stealing research data from my Angelus Project."

I started, "Actually--" I stopped myself before I got myself into real trouble with Lloyd though. If I told them that Rodyle was the one stealing the research data, I would be suspected of siding with the Desians and compromise my relationship with the Renegades...as well as Lloyd's group.

Pronyma sighed, growing annoyed, "I grow tired of your accusations, Kvar. As I have told you, I know nothing of it."

Kvar sighed and said, "Stubborn woman. I suppose I should expect no less from one who usurped the leadership of the Five Grand Cardinals. Take heed, Pronyma. Once I retrieve the Exsphere from this inferior being, I will become the leader of the Five Grand Cardinals. When that happens, you'll be begging for my forgiveness."

Pronyma responded, "You speak nonsense, Kvar. I've also heard that Rodyle has talked you into joining him in one of his schemes. But it would be best not to believe that you can deceive Lord Yggdrassil for long." I found myself wondering what it was like to live on a comet made out of pure mana. Shrugging, I looked back, noticing that the rest of our group had arrived. I smiled and waved, then looked back at Kvar.

Kvar spoke again, "So the Mana Cannon is no longer a secret. Well, it doesn't matter." He turned around, finally looking at us, "Once I succeed in retrieving that Exsphere, any suspicions I might have been under will be but a distant memory."

Kratos told us, "Get ready!"

Lloyd glared at Kvar, "You're not gonna take this from me!"

I nodded, "Right behind you, Krat-man, Lloydie!" I drew out my crossbow and jumped back some, to put distance between Kvar and me. The fight with Kvar and his two energy stones...took forever! I got singed quite a bit by the lightning and almost got skewered by his staff/spear thing. At one point in the fight, Kvar picked Lloyd up and placed him in between Kratos and himself. Thanks to Kratos's great skills with the blade, and Lloyd's amazing agility, they managed to avoid any damage that Lloyd might've gotten if his Demon Fang attack had connected. After finally defeating Kvar, Lloyd placed his hand on his Exsphere and said, "…I did it, Mom. You've been avenged!"

Raine walked over and told us, "We've learned of Chocolat's location."

Lloyd looked overjoyed at this and replied, "Really?!"

Colette noticed Kvar beginning to get up behind Lloyd and told him, "Look out!"

Kratos turned around and also saw Kvar about to attack Lloyd.

Lloyd immediately turned around and just as he was going to be attacked, Colette shielded Lloyd and Kvar struck Colette with his staff.

Lloyd gasped, "Colette?!" He caught Colette, who was about to fall onto him.

Colette responded, "Lloyd…are you okay?"

Lloyd added, "Yeah, but you're..."

Colette sighed and told him, "I'm fine, really." Just as Kvar was leaving, Sheena appeared and blocked the way.

Angrily, Lloyd drew his sword and raged, " …You bastard!" He stabbed Kvar through the right side of his chest. Kratos ran up beside Lloyd and stabbed the Grand Cardinal through the left side of his chest.

Kvar cursed his luck, telling Kratos, "Kratos…you pathetic, inferior being!" I smirked, knowing what was coming next. It was too awesome seeing all this in person for words. Kvar was getting what was coming to him and I actually go to be there IN PERSON to hear Kratos say my favorite line.

Kratos seethed, pure hatred and anger in his voice, "Feel the pain…" He pulled his sword out and stabbed the Desian Grand Cardinal in the stomach, "of those _inferior beings_..." He slashed Kvar one last time across the face, "as you burn in hell!" Kvar died right after that.

Colette grasped at the wound Kvar gave her.

Raine turned to her, very concerned. She gasped, "Colette! That wound..."

Genis told her, "Colette, hang on!"

Lloyd added, "Colette! Your wound..."

Colette smiled up at us all and said, "Thanks for worrying about me, but I'm really okay. For some reason, it doesn't hurt. Hehe, strange, huh?"

I sighed and nodded, "Yeah...strange..." I knew all too well that she would say that.

Sheena told Colette, "You're certainly not okay! Raine, you can use healing arts, right?!"

Raine responded, "Yes, but..."

Lloyd finally spoke up, "...Colette, I'm sorry, but I can't keep this a secret any longer! Everyone, listen to what I have to say. Colette...can no longer feel anything. Colette is getting closer to becoming an angel. She can't eat anymore, she can't sleep...she can't even cry!"

Colette sighed and said, "Lloyd...it's okay. I'm okay, so..." I turned to Raine, simply asking and pointedly not looking at Colette or Lloyd, "Can you blow up this ranch like you did the first?"

Raine told me, "Yes, I can. I'll set it up right now." She walked over to the computer and began to hit buttons. Once the self-destruct was set, we all hurried out of the ranch so that it wouldn't come down around our ears. We made it back to Hima in one piece. While the others slept soundly at the inn that night, I met with Yuan. I told him we defeated Kvar and destroyed the Asgard Ranch as well.

I then added, "We'll head for the Tower of Mana in the morning to unleash the Seal of Light. Uhh...Yuan, after that we'll be going to the Tower of Salvation, but let me ask you something."

Yuan nodded, "All right, ask away."

I asked, "...What are you hoping to gain by planning to attack Kratos right before he leaves with Colette to go to the Tower of Salvation? He's just going to...ack!"

He had put his Swallow to my throat before I could even react. Yuan glared, "How do you know that? I've not told you anything about my plans in regards to him."

I gulped and answered, "W-well, it's obvious you plan to do something. I mean...you did capture Lloyd. You must've had some reason for doing that...right?"

Yuan replied, "...You're right, I did have my reasons, but I'm not telling you what they are at the moment. Now, do you have anything else useful to report?"

I sighed and told him, "Well...not at the moment. Other than that Raine is getting slightly suspicious of Kratos's motives. She watches him like a hawk when she thinks no one else is looking. When she approached him about his reasons for being on the journey, he simply answered that he was a mercenary and that's how they made money. At the moment, I'm the only one that knows for sure why he's there, but I'm afraid she might figure it out."

Yuan replied, "I wouldn't worry. She sounds like a smart woman, but we don't need to worry about it. It sounds to me like Kratos is doing a fine job of keeping her from finding out who he is and why he's really there. If that's all you have, I'll see you tomorrow night." He teleported back to the Renegade base.

The next morning, Kratos and Lloyd were the first two up. I blinked and asked, "Did you wake him up for some early morning training or something, Kratos?"

Lloyd nodded, yawning a bit, "Y-yeah...he said that the earlier we do it, the sooner we can get going to the Seal of Light. I'm supposed to wake the others up after we're done."

I told him, "Aw, don't worry about it. I'll take care of that. You and Kratos focus on training right now." I was looking forward to seeing some of their training sessions in person...I only hoped Kratos wouldn't be too hard on Lloyd. I stepped back some to allow them access to the door to the inn and followed them as they left. They went to the graveyard and trained, and I smiled as I watched them. It was moments like this that made me realize how much Kratos truly cared for Lloyd. If he didn't care at all, he wouldn't have bothered with this or any of the other training sessions, nor would he have spared (or, rather, spare) Lloyd at the Tower of Salvation. I laughed a bit as Kratos managed to knock Lloyd flat on his back, unable to help myself. Kratos seemed unphased by my laughter, while Lloyd shot me a dirty look. He then looked back at Kratos and went at him again. After about two hours, at approximately 7 in the morning, I deemed that it was time to wake the others and went to the inn.

I went into Colette's room and told her, "Come on, Colette. We're leaving soon to go to the fourth seal." I knew that she wouldn't be asleep...but she was probably doing a lot of thinking at this moment.

Colette sat up and nodded. She asked, "...Joanna, is something bothering you? I can't help but notice that you've been a bit distant lately..."

I sighed and told her, looking at the floor, "...It's nothing you need to worry about, Colette. With everything you're going through as the Chosen, the last thing you need is my problems added on top of yours."

Colette walked over to me and tilted my chin up so I would be looking into her blue eyes, "Please, Joanna. You know you can tell me anything..."

I replied, "...Colette, I'm sorry but I just can't tell you. Though, I will tell you that I know that this journey will end in your death. Are you sure that's what you want?"

Colette blinked, a bit surprised. She then nodded, with a bit of a sigh, "Yes, I'm sure. As long as Lloyd is alive and happy in the newly regenerated world, it will be all right if I'm not there. Please...don't say anything to him or to Genis about how the journey will end."

I nodded, "I've already promised to keep my mouth shut. I never break a promise, Colette. But...the further progression of the Angel Toxicosis will be hard to ignore, especially since you will lose your voice. ...Lloyd and the others might figure it out on their own. And I'm sure Kratos knows too. Anyway, I'm going to wake Genis, Sheena, and Raine. You wait outside, okay?"

Colette replied, "Okay, I'll wait." She went and stood at the bottom of the steps as I woke up the raven-haired summoner and two Sage siblings.

Sheena mumbled, still half-asleep, "Bugger off, Corrine, it's too early."  
I giggled, "Sheena, I'm not Corrine. And we're not too early. We have to leave to get to the Seal of Light on time."

Sheena finally woke up, yawning and stretching. Her raven black hair, to put it bluntly, was a mess. As she brushed the tangles out of her dark hair and put it back in its customary bun, she blinked and looked back at me, "Oh...sorry, Joanna. Umm...I'll be right out, okay? You go ahead and wake up Genis and Raine."

I nodded and went to the bottom floor of the inn, going into the room that the Sages shared. I shook Raine's shoulder gently, "Raine, get up. It's time to be going soon to the Tower of Mana." Raine yawned and sat up, rubbing tiredly at her eyes. She told me, "Okay, thank you. I'll wake Genis up. You go on back to whatever you were doing. How long have you been up?"

I replied, "...Kratos woke me up this morning when he went to train early with Lloyd."

Raine nodded, "All right. I'll see you in a few minutes." She slipped on her white boots and orange robe-like jacket as I left the room. She went over to Genis's bed and shook his shoulder gently, "Genis, time to get up."

Genis grumbled, "Raine...it's too early..."

Raine sighed, "No, it's not. It's 7 am and we are leaving for the fourth seal today. Now get up and get ready."

Genis nodded and sat up in bed, stretching lazily and putting his shoes on. He and Raine soon joined Colette and me in the lobby. We went outside to retrieve Lloyd and Kratos, getting there just in time to see Lloyd knocked backwards by the pressure of Kratos pressing his strength against their crossed swords. He applied as much pressure back as he could, but landed ungracefully on his rear, his strength no match for the angelic mercenary's despite the fact that it was enhanced by his Exsphere and Genis laughed, "Nice, Lloyd..."

Lloyd rolled his eyes at his half-elven friend, "Shut up, Genis." He used his other sword to push himself back on his feet and asked, "..Am I getting any stronger?"

Kratos nodded, "Yes, you were able to hold out longer this time than last time. If you keep improving, there will be a day when you are able to surpass me."

I blinked, wondering if Kratos knew that his words were somewhat prophetic.

Raine seemed impressed at Kratos's words, "...So there is hope for Lloyd, hmm? That's good to hear. So then, shall we leave for the Tower of Mana?"

I replied, "Yes, let's go. We have to get the cure for Pietro as well as unleash the seal. Oh...Sheena, can I talk to you alone for a sec?"

Sheena nodded, "Yeah, sure."

As we walked side-by-side behind the others to have a private conversation, I told her in a VERY quiet voice, "...I'm not really from Sylvarant or Tethe'alla..."

Sheena blinked, "Oh...then where are you from?" I told her, telepathically, "_I'm from a planet called Earth. It's approximately 500,000 light years, maybe more, from here. I told the others I'm from Tethe'alla as a cover story though. Kratos didn't seem to buy it, but the others believe that I was born in Tethe'alla and raised in Sylvarant, the town of Asgard. I was...just wondering if maybe, sometime, you and Zelos could pretend you knew me as a baby...that you babysat me for my parents as we were growing up, or something. I won't ask you for anything else, Sheena. Please?"_

Sheena smiled at me and nodded, "Sure, I'll do that. If I ever get back to Tethe'alla."

I smiled back, "I'm sure you'll find a way back. You seem to be pretty resourceful. Thanks." When we finally arrived at the Tower of Mana, I used the key that I had picked up to unlock the front door and we went inside. (A/n: I don't have the Unicorn Horn sidequest on here because it's not going to be featured. Instead of the party having to go and fetch it from the unicorn at the lake, the unicorn will appear at the tower.) I was silent as we entered. It was then that I noticed a peculiar painting above the many shelves of books. It was one of a unicorn and Martel, but the unicorn looked incredibly lifelike to just be a picture. I sighed and turned to Colette, "Well, there's the Oracle Stone, Colette. Have at it..."

Colette smiled and nodded, "Oh, right." Once she activated the Oracle stone, a pillar of lightning came down from the sky and hit the strange device in front of the pedestal, activating it. It stayed glowing purple and the three pads that looked like switches were dark, as if waiting to be pressed.

Raine seemed to be in deep thought for a moment, then went and stood on one of the switches. It lit up, "Genis, go and stand over on one of the other ones."

Genis nodded. He went and stood on another switch, "You mean like this?" The one he was standing on also lit up.

Lloyd smiled, "Hey, cool! Maybe..." He went and stood on the third and final switch and the door on the eastern wall of the room opened. Lloyd grew excited and began to run toward the door, "It opened!" The switch he had been standing on deactivated, and the door shut again, "Oh, man."

Sheena sighed and went and stood on the switch where Lloyd had been standing.

Raine explained, "It appears that we have to stay right where we are for the switches to remain active."

Kratos nodded and added, "That means that at least three of us must remain here. Lloyd, choose who will stay and who will go. You did a good job of dividing us up at the ranch."

Lloyd sighed and responded, "All right. Let's see...hmm...Kratos, why don't you and Colette come with me? Professor Sage, you too. We might run into some monsters on our way up the tower, so we might need your healing. Joanna, you, Sheena, and Genis stay behind to keep the switches active. We'll see you later."

I nodded, "Right...see you around."

Lloyd led Kratos, Raine, and Colette through the open door and further into the tower while the rest of us waited for them to find the switch that opened the other door in the room, the one on the northern wall. After about 30 minutes, an image of Lloyd appeared in the center of the array we were standing on. After having a brief conversation with Sheena, he disappeared and we went out the now-open northernmost door.

After solving a difficult puzzle dealing with mirrors and light, we (Sheena, Genis and I) reunited with Lloyd, Kratos, Colette, and Raine. We walked back across the bridges of light and headed for the warp pad that we had seen when going to reunite our split party. Before we stepped onto the warp pad though, Kratos and Raine went and stood on the two blue switches to make the portal active. After the warp pad was activated, we stepped onto it and were all teleported to the Seal Room. It was on the roof of the building...which was a bit unnerving because of how high up it was. Colette walked forward a few steps, Kratos and Lloyd both following her.

Next moment, Lloyd complained, "Whew, man, I'm tired."

Kratos sighed and told him, "That's because you're always overexcited in the beginning."

I shrugged, "That and I'm sure you guys fought a lot of monsters."

The seal finally reacted to Colette's Cruxis Crystal, the sky going almost pitch black, and then getting really bright a few seconds later.

Iubaris appeared the next moment, looking rather formidable with his wings, hooves, horn, and rings of light around his legs. We finally defeated Iubaris after three hours of fighting. (A/n: In other words, I'm taking the ratio that 1 hour in game time=1 minute in real time) Exhausted, I sighed and leaned back against a pillar. The seal was broken though, and yellow energy appeared.

Remiel spoke, though he hadn't made himself visible yet, "Chosen of Regeneration...You have done well in reaching this far. Now, offer your prayers at the altar."

Colette nodded her head and replied, "Yes." She went over to the altar and prayed, "Oh Goddess Martel, great protector and nurturer of the earth, grant me thy strength." Her iridescent pink angel wings appeared and she flew up.

When she got in midair, the energy reacted and Luna appeared. She asked, "Where is Aska?"

Lloyd blinked in surprise, "Whoa, it talked!"

I giggled and replied, "Duh...her lips are moving and words are coming out. What else would she be doing?"

Lloyd rolled his eyes at me, then shook his head and looked back at Colette.

Luna added, "...Without Aska, I cannot do anything—I cannot form a pact or a vow. Please...find Aska...in order to restore my power."

I nodded to the blonde Summon Spirit, whispering to her, "We will eventually."

Luna disappeared the next moment, leaving Colette looking rather puzzled.

A light was seen from above Colette and Remiel appeared. He descended toward Colette and told her, "Your journey has been long. You have done well to reach this far, Colette, the Chosen One!"

Colette nodded and told him, "Thank you...Lord Remiel."

Remiel responded, "Let us grant you our blessing."

I muttered, to myself so that no one else would hear, "...Yeah, it's such a blessing to lose all that makes you human..."

Colette replied to Remiel, not having heard what I said, "Thank you." She received her new angel powers.

Remiel told her, "You have taken another step closer to becoming an angel, yet you seem anxious."

Colette answered that quickly, "Ah, no. I'm very happy."

Remiel sighed and said, "Hmm? Now, Chosen One. Your journey is finally drawing to a close. It is time for you to rejoice. The path to the Tower of Salvation is open! Head to the Tower of Salvation and offer your prayers of Regeneration. Then, you will be able to climb the stairway of heaven."

I was standing there, looking away from Remiel and everyone and trying not to cry at what I knew was going to happen when we got there. Kratos would still betray them, that much I was still certain about. I had a feeling though that it wouldn't be Botta leading the Renegades in the invasion of the tower though.

Remiel looked directly at me, smirking, though he didn't say anything.

Lloyd finally said, "...The Tower of Salvation?!"

Genis smiled and said, "The World Regeneration is finally going to take place!"

Sheena looked thoughtful and asked, "Is regeneration...really going to happen?"

Colette told Remiel, "I shall do as you instruct, Lord Remiel!"

Remiel nodded to her and vanished from the scene. As he was disappearing, he told Colette, "I shall await you at the final seal. Colette...my daughter. There, you will become an angel, like me."

Colette came back down, putting away her angel wings.

Kratos commented, "The end is finally in sight. Let's head to the Tower of Salvation in the morning."

Raine looked to Colette and asked her, "Colette...are you sure this is what you really want?"

Colette sighed and nodded, "...Yes. I'm fine."

Lloyd looked frustrated and shouted, "Dammit!"

As we left the Tower of Mana, I grabbed Boltzman's Book and handed it to Raine, "This has the cure for Pietro in it, right?"

Raine nodded then sighed as she added, "It will be difficult for me to use this book with my healing arts. If we had some sort of tool to amplify the body's life force..."

Genis asked her, "What sort of thing do you need?"

Raine told him, "Perhaps if..."

I cut her off and added, "A Unicorn Horn, Genis. She needs a Unicorn Horn to get the necessary technique to save Pietro's life. But...we don't need to go all the way to Lake Umacy. I have a feeling that we'll see one before too long."

The next moment, the picture that I had seen before reacted to Colette's crystal, glowing a silvery blue color. A unicorn appeared next to Colette, "Martel..."

Sheena blinked, "Martel? You mean the Goddess Martel?"

We went outside the tower of Mana. Once we reached the bottom of the stairs, Colette kneeled down.

Lloyd went over to Colette, looking really concerned now, "Professor! It's Colette's Angel Toxicosis."

Raine nodded and told him, "I see. Let's rest here for today."

Colette gasped, then looked puzzled. She couldn't speak!

Lloyd asked her, "What's wrong, Colette?"

Kratos answered his question, "I would assume she's lost her voice."

Lloyd and everyone else looked slightly shocked.

I sighed and told them, "Don't you guys remember? I lost my voice too...for a little while."

Genis blinked, "What?! Oh...oh yeah, that's right, you did. But you got it back a couple of days later. Maybe Colette's voice will come back too."

Now, I really wished I didn't know how the journey would end. I didn't say another word and started making camp, taking our tents off of Noishe's back.

Colette gasped again, then sighed and came to help me. Later, after our little campsite was set up and Kratos had a steady campfire going, Sheena stood up, "Everyone, I have something to say."

I glanced at her, silently telling her that if she told them anything I told her, I would make her life a living hell. Lloyd asked, "Huh?"

Sheena answered him, "I want to explain why I was trying to assassinate the Chosen."

Raine nodded, "All right. We're listening. Tell us about your homeland. A land that doesn't exist in this world." Sheena blinked, "...You knew?"  
Raine shook her head, "No, but you said it yourself that Sylvarant will be saved. That must mean you aren't from Sylvarant."

I sighed and remained quiet during this little talk. Despite the fact that Sheena was going to tell them that she was from Tethe'alla, I had no desire to tell them that I was from Earth. It would raise too many questions, and I would want to answer none of them.

Sheena sighed, "Yeah...you know, it's really a shame that your intellect's being wasted here. You're right. My homeland is not here, not in Sylvarant."

Genis asked, "...Well, what does that mean?"

Sheena told him, "My world is called Tethe'alla."

Genis blinked, "Tethe'alla? You mean the moon?"

Sheena giggled, then added, "Of course not. My world's not on the moon."

Lloyd looked slightly puzzled at this.

Sheena sighed, "Even I really don't understand the specifics, but there is another world that lies entwined with Sylvarant, as shadow is to light. That's Tethe'alla, my world."

I nodded, "I'm...I was originally born there as well, but my parents and I came over to Sylvarant using the Otherworldly Gate. There had always been whispers and rumors in the Church of Martel in Tethe'alla about the legendary Sylvarant, and my parents wanted to check it out for themselves. I ran into Sheena a couple of times in Meltokio."

Sheena smiled, "I thought you seemed familiar." She winked at me, then looked at Kratos. She asked him, "So, Kratos, while we're talking about families....what happened to yours?"

Kratos sighed, "...My family was slaughtered by the Desians..."

I didn't say anything, for I knew it was a half-truth. It had been the Desians' fault that Anna died because Kvar had been the one to force Kratos's hand. Now I was even more glad that he was dead. If I had been in Kratos's place, I would've killed him a long time ago.

Raine spoke up again, "The Desians that killed your family....they were led by Kvar, weren't they?"So she had noticed how deep Kratos's loathing for Kvar ran.

Kratos nodded, "Yes. And _thank you_ all _so much_ for brining up such a painful subject!" He rose to his feet and stormed off before anyone said anything else.

I sighed, "Let me go talk to him, you guys. I can understand his feelings a little."

Lloyd added, "I'll come too. I know what it feels like to have someone you love killed by the Desians."

Sheena nodded, "Just don't be too long. It's getting dark out."

I replied, "Don't worry. We won't be." I followed Kratos, finding him gazing at the stars, "Hey, Kratos. I'm sorry Raine brought up such a painful topic...she can be rather..."

Lloyd cut me off and said, "Cold and blunt at times. Are you okay?"

Kratos looked at Lloyd, "...I'll be fine. Thank you, Lloyd, and Joanna."

I nodded, "You're quite welcome."

Lloyd went and sat next to Kratos, also gazing up at the stars. He then scooted a _teensy_ bit closer to Kratos.

I smiled, "Well, umm...I'm going back to the others now. I just came to see if you were all right Kratos. I know it's hard to talk about these things..."

Kratos replied, "...All right." He had noticed that Lloyd had scooted closer, but didn't move at all. This was a sign to me that Kratos was starting to open up to his own humanity. If I could just have a few more days with him, maybe he'd actually smile! Well...okay, maybe a smile was a bit much, but at least he was letting someone in. Then again, Lloyd was probably the one responsible for it, not me. I went back to the others, the smile still there.

Sheena smiled back, "Hey, you seem really happy. What happened?"

I told her, "Oh...Kratos just opened up to Lloyd a bit, that's all. It makes me happy."

Raine seemed a bit perturbed by this, "Hmph...he'll open up to Lloyd but not to me? I don't know whether to be offended or happy."

I giggled, "Oh, just give him time, Raine. You haven't really known him all that long."

Colette wrote on my hand, "Neither has Lloyd." I wanted to say, 'Actually, he's known Lloyd since he was a baby...he just didn't know he was alive.', but stopped myself and told her, "Eh...true. Maybe it's because they use the same weapon that they've connected so well. Whatever the case, I'm glad it's happening."

Genis added, "Yeah, me too. Kratos needs to have someone to care about him. It seems to me that he's always got this monster-sized chip on his shoulder or something."

Sheena smirked, "Heh, just what we need, a mercenary with a chip on his shoulder."

I replied, "...Well, I'm going to get some sleep. You guys should too. Good night!" I went and lay down some distance from the campfire and closed my eyes, feigning sleep.

After the others were asleep, Kratos and Lloyd came back.

Lloyd knew that Colette and I weren't really asleep and whispered, "Good night, Joanna, Colette..." He yawned and lay down next to the campfire.

I whispered back, "Night."

Colette gave a sigh as a good night and stared up at the stars.

Lloyd looked at Kratos one last time before falling asleep, "Y'know...it's the weirdest thing, but my childhood memory that stands out the most is...gazing at the stars with my dad. My real dad, not Dirk."

Kratos got an almost shocked expression on his face and then asked, "...Do you remember anything about your birth father?"

Lloyd sighed, "Unfortunately, not really...only bits and pieces. What stands out to me the most about him...is...red hair..." He then drifted off to sleep, beginning to snore.

I gulped, "...Honest, Kratos, I didn't say anything to him."

Kratos nodded, "I know. It's just strange that he remembers so little about me. Maybe the fall off the cliff did that."

I replied, "That or the memory of the night was suppressed because it was too painful for his three-year-old mind to understand." The next moment, I noticed that Lloyd was tossing and turning, in the throes of a painful nightmare. I gulped, "...Could he be...remembering that night in his dreams? Is it possible for a half-memory to cause nightmares?"

Kratos sighed, "I don't know...but I'm to blame for it."

I told him, quietly, "No, you're not. Kvar is. He's the one that forced you to kill Anna while Lloyd was watching."

Lloyd whimpered in his sleep, then muttered, "Mom...no....d-don't kill her! Dad!"

I hated seeing Lloyd so tormented by his half-awakened memories and looked to Kratos, my voice almost a yell without my realizing, "Kratos...please, hold Lloyd. It won't be good if he rolls into the campfire!"

Kratos nodded, "You raise a good point." He went over to Lloyd and cradled the troubled teenager's torso, also ruffling his hair. He muttered softly, "Lloyd...it's all right. It's just a dream." He hoped his familiar voice would soothe the boy.

I loved this moment. It was the very image of a father trying to comfort his very traumatized son.

Raine, whom I had accidentally woken up, yawned and sat up in her sleeping bag, "Kratos? Is Lloyd all right?"

Kratos looked to Raine, "Hmm? Oh...yes...he was just...having a nightmare and...."

Raine smiled, "It's fine, Kratos. I trust him with you. And apparently, he does too." She giggled and pointed out that Lloyd was now halfway returning Kratos's embrace, his gloved hands clasped tightly around the purple-clad seraphim's wrists.

Kratos sighed, "...I wish he didn't."

I asked, "Why not? It's not as if it's unwarranted." I gasped and put my hand over my mouth.

Raine sighed, "...Whatever. I'm going back to sleep. I'm too tired to worry about that." She yawned and fell back asleep.

Lloyd drifted into a dreamless sleep, still holding on to Kratos. For now, he almost seemed to be just a scared child clinging to its parent for comfort.

I smiled, "...You know...in the morning, Lloyd's gonna wonder how you ended up like that."

Kratos replied, "I know...but I'll worry about that tomorrow."

The next moment, Yuan came over, looking like he had some bad news for me. I blinked, "Yuan...you look a bit down. What's going on?"

Yuan replied, "...Lord Yggdrassil has sent your friends Amber and Sarah home, along with your friend Liz. He considered them too much of a nuisance to keep around."

I sighed, "Great. Well, that's okay. I'll be all right."

Tomorrow came sooner than anyone expected and Lloyd nearly jumped out of his skin at his closeness to Kratos, "Umm...I hope you didn't get the wrong idea, Kratos. I was....umm, I just..."

Kratos chuckled, "I know, Lloyd. You were just having a nightmare. It's fine. I've had a few nightmares of my own in my time." He then sighed and frowned. He added silently, "A few of those times, I wished I had someone there to keep me company and tell me everything was all right, that it was just a dream..."

Lloyd managed to hear him though and told him, "...Oh. I'm sorry...well, I'm here for you Kratos, if you have any of those again."

Kratos nodded, "I appreciate the sentiment, Lloyd." He looked around, noticing that the others were getting up, "Well, Colette and I should get going. It's a long ride to the Tower of Salvation."

I nodded, "I should go too. I'll meet you guys there." I walked out of the inn with Kratos as he went to Noishe.

Despite the fact that I was tripling my loyalties, Lloyd and Kratos's safety was my first priority. Everything else would just fall into place, hopefully.

Kratos told Noishe, "I have some things I must do, in my place, I need you to--"

For some reason, Lloyd wasn't coming out of the inn! What was going on? Was Kratos going to be wounded by Yuan and unable to take Colette to the Tower? Was this going to be a test of my loyalty to both Cruxis and the Renegades? Oh, what to do...

Yuan charged up a lightning ball in his hand and launched it at Kratos.

Despite the fact that I had been so loyal to him, without thinking, I threw myself into the line of fire, getting hit in the back where my wings came out of and fell right into Kratos. I screamed in pain as the attack burned me badly.

Kratos nearly fell over himself, but managed to keep from falling and stabilized the both of us, while still managing to draw out his sword. He slashed Yuan on the shoulder, wounding him.

Yuan grunted in pain and disappeared before Kratos could get a good look. He didn't want the man to know that he was behind it all.

Kratos then looked down at me and asked, "Are you all right?"

I replied, "Aside from the fact that my back feels like it's on fire and I'm in a lot of pain, I'm doing okay."

Raine and the others soon came out, having jumped to attention the moment they heard my scream. She raced over to me and Kratos and demanded, "What happened, you two? Why is Joanna so badly hurt?"

Kratos answered, "Someone tried to surprise me, but Joanna saw the attack coming and protected me." Confounded by my act of selflessness, he fell silent and gazed up at the sky, as if asking it for answers.

Colette was watching me with a concerned expression on her face, and although she couldn't talk, I could hear her saying to me telepathically, _Are you okay_? _Who did this?_

I telepathically replied, _Don't worry about it, Colette. We need to get you to the Tower of Salvation._

Kratos had overheard the telepathy and told Raine, "Perhaps you should stay here and heal Joanna while the rest of us go to the Tower of Salvation."

Sheena didn't like the idea of leaving me behind but nodded, "Yeah...she's too injured to be of much help against the monsters in the tower, if there are any."

I finally said, "No, I'm coming. I may be hurt, but I can still fight. It's fine. I want to be there for Colette. Please, Raine, let me come."

Raine sighed, "All right, fine, but stay on the sidelines. I don't want your injury to be made any worse than it is."

I nodded, "I will." With no further ado, our small group headed to the top of the mountain at Hima, going to see the dragon tamer about borrowing dragons to take to the Tower.

The tamer said, "It'll be 10,000 Gald for a tour of the Tower."

Lloyd replied, "That's expensive!"

The tamer responded, "I have to keep business going somehow, right?"

I told him, "Look, just cut the crap and give us the dragons. Colette's the Chosen One and we need these dragons to finish up the Journey of World Regeneration."

The tamer gasped, "Well...why didn't you say so in the first place? No no, this won't do at all! Put that money away! I can't charge the Chosen for a trip to the Tower of Salvation! Feel free to use any of the dragons that you wish. Please make sure you return the dragons when you arrive. There will be other customers wanting to use them..."

Kratos nodded, "I believe I will ride with Colette. Joanna, please choose who you will ride with."

I answered, "I'll ride with Sheena."

Lloyd added, "Then I'll ride with Genis."

We got on a dragon with two of us each, with the exception of Raine, who rode one by herself due to our uneven number of people.

As we got closer to the Tower, the sense of forboding that I had felt grew stronger and I wished I could share what I knew now more than ever. However, I told Sheena, "Hey, Sheena, can I fly you over to Raine, so I can catch up with Kratos and Colette? I really want to be alone for a while..."

Sheena nodded, "Sure." I nodded and flew my dragon next to Raine's, and Sheena jumped onto Raine's dragon. I then flew up to catch Kratos and Colette. I wanted to be there before anyone else, despite the fact that I knew the truth about everything. This was not going to be an easy thing to go through, but I had to in order to keep everything the way it was supposed to go. Of course, things were a little different with me there, but how different? I wasn't too sure on that one, but things definitely were not the same as they were in the game. For starters, Lloyd hadn't come out to protect Kratos from Yuan. I had to do that. And I had been one of the ones left behind to hold down the switches in the Tower of Mana. Perhaps I had a bigger hand in what happened than I thought. However, I could not shake the feeling that something very different was going to happen once we entered the Tower...


	8. Chapter 8

A/n: I'm updating as often as possible.

Chapter 8

Tower of Salvation and Loyalties Tested

As I headed into the Tower alongside Colette and Kratos, I heard footsteps echoing behind me. I sighed and told Colette and Kratos, "Go on ahead, you two. I'll catch up." Turning, I saw Yuan come running up to me. I asked him, "What do you want now, you jerk?"

Yuan crossed his arms and answered with his own question, "What reason do you have for calling me that?"

I told him, "Well, considering that you were probably the one who put the idea in Mithos's head to separate me from my only connection to home...is it really that hard to figure out why?"

Yuan sighed, "I had nothing to do with that. I merely delivered the news. It was more than likely that Remiel had them sent away as a test of your loyalties to Cruxis. Speaking of loyalties...would you be willing to help us invade the Tower and stop the Regeneration ritual? It would save Colette's life, after all."

Thinking about it a moment, I answered, "...All right, but promise me that Kratos and Lloyd won't be hurt. I won't relinquish that."

Yuan nodded, "All right, I promise." He told me, "That's most excellent. However, you'll need to disguise yourself if you don't want your friends to recognize you."

I replied, "...What do I have to do exactly?"

Yuan answered, "Get a haircut and wear one of the female Renegade uniforms. Yes, they're a little skimpy, but they cover a little more than the Desian uniforms."

I gasped, "Cut my hair? But...I've had it long for most of my life." I twirled a lock of my soon-to be-gone long brown hair nervously around my finger, then asked him, "How short are we talking about?"

He told me, "Jaw-length short. It's enough for you to mess around with a little if you want. So then, I'll go and fetch you a uniform and meet you halfway up the stairwell, all right?"

I nodded, "Okay..."

Yuan left and went to get me a uniform.

I took out a pair of scissors that I had just happened to grab on my way out of the inn this morning out of my pocket. I gulped and cut off one lock of hair to start with. I had never cut my own hair, and was afraid I would mess up, but managed to cut my hair to the length Yuan had told me too. After feeling like my hair was nice, short, and evenly cut, I waited for Yuan.

I glanced nervously up the stairway, wanting to go tell Kratos and Colette what Yuan wanted me to do, but also not wanting to because it would cost me their trust. If only I hadn't insisted on that sleepover with Liz...maybe then, this entire thing could've been avoided. Well, whatever happened, I was going to protect Lloyd during the operation, even if it meant hurting disco-boy Mithos himself. Why wasn't I scared of him? Not sure...maybe because I found it hard to take him seriously because of his disco-like Cruxis outfit.

I heard Remiel now, saying, "Offer the prayers of regeneration, Chosen One, Colette."  
A moment later, Lloyd and the others came running up behind me, "Joanna! What are you waiting for?"

I told him, "Ohh...umm, I was waiting for you guys. Go on ahead though, I'll bring up the rear."

Lloyd seemed a bit confused as to why I was doing that, but nodded, "Okay, sure."

He and the others soon arrived at the top of the stairwell, just in time to see Colette hovering in front of Remiel. She hadn't given up her soul yet, I could see that from where I was standing, which was a good thing. A moment later, Yuan, Botta and a few other Renegade soldiers arrived. Yuan quickly gave me my uniform and I raced down the stairs alongside him. Changing into the somewhat skimpy uniform, I headed back up the stairs, Botta and me waiting for the right moment. Yuan headed back to the hideout. A quite reasonable action since he didn't want Mithos to know that he was the real leader.

Besides the fact that it was hard to hear what was Lloyd saying through my helmet, I managed to make out, "The angels, the goddess Martel, the Church of Martel....it's all a big lie, isn't it? Let her go!"

I then heard Remiel tell him, "That I cannot do. This is the perfect vessel for Martel, which took years to cultivate. I have no more use for any of you! Die!"

After the 20-minute fight, Remiel collapsed to the floor, surprised, "How...could the ultimate being...lose to a bunch of kids?"

I then noticed that Kratos wasn't there. Not too surprising, considering he was going to be telling them all the truth about who he really was. However, I snuck up to Lloyd and whispered, "Don't give up on him yet, Irving."

Due to my disguise, Lloyd had no idea who I was or what I was talking about and asked, "What are you talking about? Who are you and how do you know who I am?"

I added vaguely, "I have my sources, but never mind about that. You mustn't give up on Lord Kratos yet, is what I mean. He's not only doing what he's going to tell you he is. There is more to his agenda than you could possibly know."

Lloyd glared at me suspiciously, then nodded, "All right...thank you, I guess."

A moment later, Colette told Lloyd and me inside both our minds, _I guess that...it's time. Goodbye Lloyd. Because of you, I was able to find the strength to live these sixteen years to the fullest. Joanna, thank you for being so kind to me. And, Lloyd...I love..._ Her voice tapered off and her eyes went red, indicating that she was now soulless.

Biting my lip and doing my best not to cry, I turned to Botta, my voice quivering lightly because of unshed tears "Let's get started. We're too late to stop Colette, but we can save the rest of them from the wrath of _Lord_ Yggdrassil." I said the 'lord' part with a note of distaste and shouted, "Hurry, save the Irving kid and the rest of them!"

Only moments later, Kratos appeared from behind a pillar and noticed Lloyd's fragile state. Sighing, he told him, "Lloyd, this is what you wanted, is it not? The Chosen desired the regeneration of the world, and it has happened. Although it will take some time..."

I spoke up, cutting Kratos off even though my voice was still shaky, "I don't care what you say, Kratos! Colette dying isn't what Lloyd had in mind! He didn't know anything about what the Regeneration entailed, so stop saying it's what he wanted!"

Mithos glared at me, as if he could see through the helmet. Oh shiznit, he must've recognized my voice! Why can't I keep my mouth shut? He asked, "Joanna...you would betray us?"

I responded, "I only betray you to keep my friends safe, Lord _Mithos. _Although I'm regretful to tell this to Lord Kratos, I also consider him a friend. So do not punish him for my choice to join the Renegades. It was my own decision."

Mithos answered me, "Oh trust me, that's not a problem." The next moment, as if to test my resolve, he fired off a strong bolt of light magic at Lloyd.

Gasping, I shoved Lloyd out of the way and got hit in the stomach, going flying back into the pillar from the magic attack.

Apparently, I had jostled Lloyd out of his dazed state, because the next moment, he shouted, "I won't let you take Colette!" He shouted to Kratos, lunging at the older man with both blades, looking to Raine and the others to help him.

Without so much as an argument, Raine, Genis and Sheena leapt in to help him.

I knew they would be no match for Kratos alone, so I decided to jump in, despite my wounded condition.

We managed to defeat Kratos after a while, and he got wounded. He was surprised that Lloyd had surpassed him, but also, deep down...very proud of his son.

What happened next was very hard to keep up with, but it seemed that Lloyd was holding Kratos at sword point, "Die!" However, I quickly jumped in and caught Lloyd's blade on my own. I told him, "We can't kill him yet. He might know how to restore the Chosen's soul."

Lloyd sighed and told me, "Yeah...you're right. He's traveled with us so long...I just can't bring myself to do it."

I smiled underneath the helmet and told him, "It's all right, Irving. Trust me, it's better that you didn't."

Mithos responded, "Oh, are you sure about that?" He fired another bolt of light magic at Lloyd.

I again shielded Lloyd from the attack, this time getting knocked out by the force of impact with the pillar.

When I woke up again, we were in the Triet Base. Lloyd and Genis were both standing over me, looking really worried. Wait...had they found out that...?

Raine reassured me by saying, "They don't have a clue. Mithos knocked almost everyone out when he used his magic. The only people he didn't attack were Kratos and me. I guess it's because Kratos was on his side and he deemed me alone to not to be much of a threat. Whatever the reason, I'm glad for it. I've been able to heal everyone...everyone that is, except you for some odd reason. I did take off your helmet though because I had to check and make sure you didn't have any head injuries. Don't worry, I won't tell them you're in the Renegades."

I blinked. That was a little odd...Raine had always been able to use her magic to heal me...up until now. Maybe my mana was too different from theirs. But then...that didn't explain why it had worked before. Maybe my short time with Amber and Sarah had caused my mana to switch back over to what it was for Earth. Well, whatever the reason was, I didn't like it. My injuries still hurt rather badly, but were bandaged up because of Raine. I then looked at Lloyd and Genis again, "Hi guys."

Lloyd smiled, "Hi, glad you're awake. How do you feel?"

I answered, "Like my back has been run over by a truck and my chest and stomach feel like they're on fire. Aside from that bit of pain though, I'm doing well, considering..." I sighed and looked over to Colette, who was still soulless.

Lloyd nodded, "Yeah...I'm hanging in there, too." He walked over to Colette and took her into his arms, apologizing, "Colette...I should've stopped this. I'm so sorry..."

Kratos told him, from his place in the corner surrounded by a forcefield compliments of Yuan, "Apologies won't bring her back, Lloyd."

I asked him, "Yeah, then what will, Mr. Smartypants?"

Kratos glared at me for the juvenile nickname and answered, "I don't have to tell you."

Sheena threatened, "Oh, you'll tell us all right. Or you'll have to experience some of Mizuho's finest _torture_ techniques."

I gulped. It even sounded scary. Mizuho had torture techniques? I was glad she hadn't used any of them on me...or anyone else in the party. I then found myself wondering if she had used any of them on Zelos. Biting my lip to keep from laughing at the thought of it, I turned to Kratos again, "Kratos...I'd really rather Sheena not have to do something like that. Please...just tell us how to cure Colette."

Kratos sighed and frowned. He looked like he was actually _thinking it over_, which was more than I expected.

Raine began to get nervous, "Why is it taking him so long to decide?"

I told her, "Raine, it can't be easy for him to just give up that kind of information, especially when he's been loyal to Mithos for so long. Give him a minute."

Yuan then walked into the room, and told Kratos, "Yes, you'd best tell us the method to save the girl...or I might just have to kill your son." He grabbed Lloyd around the neck loosely and held a knife to his throat.

I blinked, more than a little surprised at this. Wait...Yuan wasn't supposed to tell Lloyd who Kratos really was and threaten to kill him to ensure Kratos's cooperation until much later, right? So why...?

Lloyd looked generally confused and slightly upset, "What? What do you mean? Kratos can't be...my dad."

Since it had already been said, I added, "He is, Lloyd. Think about all the times Kratos has helped you. The night you had the nightmare, he held you. All the times he's sparred with you to make you stronger, everything. He wasn't only doing that because he's your friend. He was doing it to protect his only child and living family member, you." I was halfway leaning on the bed post by now, attempting to stand.

Lloyd then asked, "But then...why did he fight us at the Tower?"

I told him, "I think he was trying to distance himself from you because he was afraid to get too close to anyone again. He was afraid of losing you." I pushed myself off of the bed post and managed to stand there a minute.

Kratos glared at me, as if telling me to shut up with his eyes. Now I was even more glad there was a forcefield between us.

Yuan asked Kratos, "So, what's it gonna be? Give us the method to save the girl or watch Lloyd die right here?"

Sheena, not wanting to be forgotten, kicked Yuan in the shin, to get him to let up on Lloyd.

Yuan fell back, dropping the knife beside him. He glared at Sheena, having lost his only advantage.

Lloyd noticed that I was slipping and came over and caught me. He looked to Kratos, "...Kratos, please...after all the times you helped me, can't you just help me with this one last thing?"

Kratos sighed and continued to think it over, not saying a word for the moment.

Genis begged Kratos, "Please...tell us how to save Colette, Kratos! Surely you care about her...on some level..."

Yuan waited impatiently for Kratos to answer, tapping his foot.

Kratos finally told us, "All right, I'll tell you. The Angel Toxicosis, as Raine so aptly named it, is really just a parasitic infection by the Cruxis Crystal. To cure it, we'll need a mana fragment, the Mana Leaf Herb and zircon to strengthen the mount."

Sheena added, "But...most of that stuff is only found in Tethe'alla."

Yuan told her, "I'll lend you all Rheiards so you can get the materials, if you'll leave the Chosen in my care. Don't worry, I'll make sure Kratos behaves too."

Raine nodded, "Thank you, Yuan."

Sighing, I told them, "I think I'll sit this one out, guys. I'm still in a lot of pain from Mithos's attack." As I glanced over Lloyd, I noticed that he had a really guilty expression on his face. I asked him, "Lloyd, you okay? What's wrong?"

Lloyd responded, "I just...I'm sorry you got hurt. I should've been paying more attention to Mithos."

I told him, "Lloyd, it's not your fault. _I'm_ the one who _chose_ to protect you, so don't worry." I smiled at him to reassure him, "I'll be better before you know it."

Genis added, "But Raine's healing magic isn't working on you...do you know why?"

...Well, he had me in a trap there. If I told them that it wasn't working because my mana was too different from theirs, they'd figure out rather quickly that I wasn't from Sylvarant or Tethe'alla. Sighing, I told them, "Probably because I'm from Tethe'alla, Genis."

Raine commented, "But my healing magic still works on Sheena, and she's from Tethe'alla." She was glaring at me suspiciously now. Just great...now I would have to tell her and hope she didn't leak the information to the others.

I then asked, "...Can I talk to Raine alone for a moment, everyone?"

Sheena nodded, "We'll get the Rheairds ready. Raine, you can join us when you're ready."

Raine responded, "That's fine." She turned to me, "So...explain where you're really from."

Kratos answered, "Yes, do tell of your world, a world that isn't in this region of space."

I blinked, "You _knew_?"

Kratos replied, "Angelic hearing, remember? I heard when you were telling Sheena. It wasn't as if I _wanted_ to eavesdrop on you, but having hypersensitive hearing kind of makes it difficult."

I nodded, "Oh, yeah, that's right." I sighed and then told them, "I'm from a planet called Earth, which is really really really far away from here, probably thousands of light years. And my family? Well, I have a dad and mom of course, and two brothers and one sister."

Raine was quiet for a while, letting all this information sink in.

I then added, "By the way, you two and Sheena are the only ones who know. I don't want the others to know because I don't want them to treat me differently."

Kratos told me, "They wouldn't necessarily treat you any differently just because you're from a different planet. Well, Lloyd and Colette wouldn't." He looked at Raine, "How do you believe your brother would react to finding this out?"

After a few moments, Raine answered, "...I honestly don't know. He might actually get along better with her if he knows of her true origins. Sure, he'll be angry at her for a little while for lying at first about where she came from, but he'll get over it. If I tell him the reason she was hiding that from him, he'll get over it even faster, and may even laugh it off. Who knows? I really think the only way to find out if they'll treat her differently is if she tells them."

I shook my head, "No, that's not happening. I'm afraid..."

Kratos cut me off and asked, "Of what?"

I replied, "...Of being made fun of. I think they might call me 'Alien' or something."

Raine actually giggled a little, in spite of being irritated at me for lying to her, "I think that's the least of your worries at this point, don't you?"

I sighed and added, "Yeah, that's a good point, Raine. Well...I guess I'll tell Genis and Lloyd, but individually, not together. I don't want Lloyd's opinion of me to sway Genis's opinion."

Raine nodded, "All right. You can tell them when we get back from Tethe'alla to get the materials for the cure for Colette. That way she can be told too." She walked out of the room.

I responded, "Okay. I'll see you when you get back then, Raine." I sighed and lay down on the bed, wincing at the pain of my injuries. It felt like a tremendous weight had been lifted off my shoulders now that I had told Kratos and Raine. I had known they would be the hardest to hold something as big as this over on. Lloyd...yeah, he was gonna be a tough one to keep as my friend after I told him the truth about myself. Colette...well, she pretty much liked everyone, so it wouldn't make that much of a difference to her, plus I had been nicer to her than to anyone else and had helped her keep the truth of the Regeneration from Genis and Lloyd, so she kinda owed me. Genis...well, I didn't know either. I hoped that what Raine said had been right, and that's all I'll say about that. After a while of thinking, I looked over at Kratos, who was actually...smiling for once. Okay, this was kind of creepy. "Umm...Kratos, why are you smiling? It's kinda creepy."

Kratos responded, "I'm just glad Lloyd's safe."

I frowned, "Oh yeah, that's right. You thought he was killed by the Desians..."

Kratos nodded, "Yes."

Sighing, I asked, "...I'm not trying to sound nosy, but did Lloyd ever cling to you when he was scared as a young child?"

Kratos answered me truthfully, "Yes...similar to the manner he clung to me when he had that nightmare."

I smiled, "That's so cute!"

Kratos colored slightly and replied, "Shut up...I was only being a father."

I nodded, "I know, relax. My parents comforted me when I had nightmares as a little kid too, so I can relate, sort of."

Kratos told me, "Now that I've told you something so personal, you have to tell me."

Sighing, I told him, "I don't have kids right now. I'm not even dating anyone. Although...I can't say I haven't thought of having children. The medical technology in my world is so advanced that I can have a baby without needing a man."

Kratos managed to retain his composure somehow, but I could tell that he was in a stunned silence.

After about 10-15 minutes of silence, Yuan came in. He asked Kratos, "So...Kratos, will you join up with the Renegades?"

Kratos snapped out of his stunned silence and responded, "I need more time to think about it, Yuan."

Yuan sighed, "Fine, but I'd better have a definite answer three days from now. That's when Lloyd and the others will return. Joanna, don't say anything else that distracts him, or else I'll have to ask you to recuperate somewhere else."

I nodded, "Fine, I won't say anything to him. I've said my piece anyway." I rolled over onto my side, facing the wall and away from Kratos so he could really think about what he wanted to do. I hoped he would join forces with us to oppose Mithos, but I wasn't going to force him if he wanted to stay on the disco freak's side. I then added, "Oh, and Kratos...if you do decide to stay with Cruxis, know that I won't ever personally be the one to hurt or kill you, nor will I give any orders to do that. I know you and Yuan are old friends."

Kratos nodded, "Thank you for giving me that consideration." Not saying another word, he gazed up at the ceiling and began to think.

I was also silent while Kratos was thinking everything over.

About three hours later (A/N: Hey, it's not an easy decision, give him a break, okay?), Kratos told me, "I believe I will be part of the Renegades, but Mithos must never know of it."

I nodded, "I'm sure Yuan will find a way to keep Mithos from figuring it out. He's smart like that." I sat up slightly, wincing at the burning pain in my stomach, "Well...I'll go tell Yuan."

Kratos asked me, "You can barely sit up without being in pain. Wouldn't it be easier just to tell one of my guards to tell him?"

I giggled, despite the pain I was feeling, "Yeah, that's true." I turned to the guard on the right side of Kratos's forcefield, "Hey, you there."

The guard replied, "My name's Tyler, but what do you want, Miss Joanna?"

I answered, "Go tell Lord Yuan that Lord Kratos has decided to join our cause."

Tyler answered, "Y-yes ma'am! Most certainly!" He ran off, seeming overjoyed and excited. I hoped that overly cheery attitude wouldn't spread throughout the base or to Yuan. Seeing Yuan smiling really big and being overly excited just didn't seem like it would be right, or fit his character for that matter.

Anyway, Yuan soon came back. Although he wasn't grinning like the Kool-Aid© man, he did seem a bit lighter in spirits. He said, "I'm glad you decided to join us, Kratos."

Kratos nodded, "You'd better not make me regret this. One word to Mithos and I can get out of this with no strings attached."

Yuan responded, "Of course, anything for an old friend."

Kratos actually smiled and told him, "I'm glad to hear that hasn't changed despite us being on opposite sides."

I cleared my throat, "I'm still here, you know."

Kratos nodded, "Of course we know that. What shall we do while we wait for Lloyd and the others to return with the cure for Colette?"

I responded, "Well, I kinda want to do some exploring of the base...if that's all right with you, Yuan."

Yuan nodded, "That's fine. I'll have some of my men meet you in the corridor. Have fun."

I smirked, "Of course."

Kratos responded, "I believe I will follow Lloyd and the others, to make sure no Cruxis angels, or anyone from the Church of Martel, give them trouble."

Yuan told him, "I was just about to ask you to do that, actually. All right, go ahead. Be careful, my friend."

Kratos nodded, "I will. Good luck, Yuan."

Yuan replied, "You too."

With no further ado, Kratos went out of the base and took to the air, his bluish-greenish wings sparkling as he flew off.

Yuan also attempted to heal me, but his magic didn't affect my injuries, same as Raine. He asked, "Why isn't healing magic working on you?"

I responded, "...It has to do with my mana. I'm from a planet called Earth that is thousands of light years from here. I'm not surprised your healing magic didn't work. Raine's didn't either. Don't worry about it. I'll still heal up okay. I may have some light scarring, but not anything that wouldn't be coverable." I yawned and lay back down in the bed, ignoring the stinging pain in my back.

Yuan told me, "Get some rest. You went through a lot the other day."

I nodded, "I'll try. And thank you, Yuan."

Yuan looked at me confused, "For what?"

I smirked, "For rescuing me from Mithos and the Cruxis angels. What else?"

Yuan told me, "Oh, well, you're welcome." He walked off without saying another word.

I actually managed to fall asleep right after Yuan left the room.

A few days later, Lloyd and the others returned with the materials to cure Colette.

I was glad to see them again, relieved that they had managed to get the things. Now I could tell them the truth about myself. I just hoped they wouldn't get too angry with me for deceiving them before.

I went into the room where Lloyd and Colette were, now essentially fully healed. I sighed as I watched Lloyd add the improved Key Crest to Colette's Cruxis Crystal. Maybe getting the materials earlier would help her come back to herself faster. At least, that's what I was hoping.

We all stood there watching Colette with baited breath, hoping she would "wake up" soon from her unresponsive state.

A moment later, she blinked and her eyes changed back to their normal bright blue. I giggled out of happiness and ran over to Colette, hugging her tightly as tears fell from my eyes, "Colette...I'm so glad you're back to normal."

Colette giggled, then placed her arms loosely around me, "Thank you. It's good to be back." She allowed me to cry on her shoulder for a moment before letting her arms drop.

I let go of her and turned to face Lloyd and Genis, "I have something to tell the three of you after you've welcomed her back. Although, I'd rather tell each of you individually, if that's all right with you."

Lloyd nodded, "That's fine." He then went over to Colette and gave her a fierce hug. He whispered something in her ear. What was it? Perhaps he was admitting that he loved her too? Well, whatever it was, it wasn't any of my business so I kept out of it. He then placed a feather-light kiss on her lips, eliciting a blush from the blonde Chosen.

Colette asked, "What was that for?"

Lloyd responded, "To thank you for being willing to die to ensure my happiness, what else?" He looked like he was on cloud 9, a huge smile on his face and his arms still wrapped around Colette. He placed another light kiss on Colette's cheek, and softly spoke to her for a few minutes before finally turning to me with a sigh, as if reluctant to leave the girl's side again, "All right, Joanna. You can tell me what you want to tell me now."

I blinked, but then nodded, "All right, come on." I led him out of the room and into the corridor. Thankfully, no Renegades were out in the corridors, "...I'm not actually from Tethe'alla. I'm from a planet called Earth...it's thousands of light years from here. I'm sorry I lied to you...but I was afraid you'd treat me differently if you knew the truth."

Lloyd frowned, his eyes narrowed into something of a glare, "Joanna...why? I thought we could trust you."

I sighed and told him, "You can...I just didn't tell you for the reasons I already said. I was afraid I'd be treated badly."

Lloyd nearly shouted at me, "It's not like we'd treat you _that_ differently. Granted, it'd take some getting used to, but you didn't have to lie about it! Just told us in a more subtle way..."

I responded, "...Raine's healing magic not working on me wasn't a more subtle way of showing you that?"

Lloyd sighed, "...I guess it was, but you should've told us from the beginning." He stormed out of the room. Yeah, he'd be steamed at me for a while, but since he was still the Lloyd we all know and love, he'd think about it for a little bit, then get over it and be back to his adorkable self within a few days. He went back to the room where Genis and Colette were, noticeably quiet.

Genis asked him, "Lloyd, are you okay?"

Lloyd told him flatly, "I'm fine, Genis. It's your turn to talk to Joanna now." Ordinarily, he would've told his best friend what was bothering him, but since Genis hadn't heard the truth about me yet, he couldn't.

Genis responded, "Oh yeah, that's right. It is. I wonder what she wants to talk about?"

Lloyd said nothing.

Genis nodded, "Okay, I'll go talk to her. You can keep Colette company." He walked out of the room and headed out into the corridor where I was. He asked, "Do you know why Lloyd's in such a bad mood right now?"

I sighed, "Yes...and what I'm about to tell you might get you ticked at me too."

Genis smirked, "Really? Well then, tell me and we'll find out, won't we?"

I giggled, admiring Genis's enthusiasm, "Well..." I sighed and straightened up, then told him, "I"m not...I'm not actually from Tethe'alla or Sylvarant."

Genis smirked again and laughed, "Was that all? I already knew that. Raine told me while we were getting the materials for curing Colette, the first night we stayed at an inn. She said you were from a place called Earth. Sure, I was a little ticked to start with, but I got over it pretty quickly once she told me why you had lied. I can understand not wanting to be treated differently, persecuted...whatever you call it. After all, I am a half-elf."

I blinked, "Oh...yeah, that's right. You are. You can understand my feelings then."

Genis nodded, "I think that's why Raine didn't get mad about it either, and don't worry about Lloyd. Sure he's angry with you right now, but he'll get over it. Do you want me to tell him why?"

I sighed, "I tried telling him, but he just shut me out every time."

Genis added, "That's because of Kratos, I think. After all, the guy's his father and he betrayed us. Finding out that you were lying about where you came from only a few hours later may have caused him to question who he could trust. Give him a few days and I think he'll be fine."

I smiled and nodded upon hearing this, "Thank you, Genis. You know all the right things to say."

Genis returned my smile and replied, "You're welcome. Since Lloyd trusts me more now, do you want me to tell him your reasons for lying? After all, I'm his best friend."

I didn't want to create a rift between Genis and Lloyd so I responded, "No, that's okay. I'll just have to earn his trust back myself. Like he said, I should've been truthful from the beginning."

Genis blinked, "...Joanna, you're a really moral person."

I giggled, "Nah, not really. If I was, I wouldn't have lied to you all."

Genis reminded me, "But you only did that to protect yourself from being hurt."

I thought for a moment, then added, "Yeah, you're right, but that's no excuse. If I don't want to be hurt, I might as well hide from the world because no matter where you go there will always be someone that dislikes you."

Genis nodded, "Yeah, that's true. Well, I'm going back to Lloyd and Colette now. Should I send Colette your way?"

I responded, "Please do...although..hmm..."

Genis asked, "What?"

I answered, "Colette might already know. She may have overheard me talking to Sheena in the same way Kratos did."

Genis shrugged, "Maybe, but it doesn't hurt to tell her anyway, right?"

I nodded, "Yeah, good point. All right, Genis, I'll tell her."

Genis left the room and told Colette to meet me in the corridor.

She came out and asked, "Genis said you wanted to talk to me. What do you want to talk about?"

I added, "...About where I really come from. I'm not from Tethe'alla or Sylvarant. I'm from a planet called Earth which is thousands of light years from here."

Colette blinked, then sighed, "...Oh, I see. Can you tell me why you lied about it?"

I nodded, "I was afraid of being persecuted. I thought you'd treat me differently and not accept me for that."

Colette responded, "I would never do that to you, Joanna. You've been so kind to me, and you helped me keep the truth of Regeneration from Lloyd and Genis. You're a good person no matter who you are or where you're from. I'm gonna go talk to Lloyd now and see if I can get him in a better mood. I'll see you later, okay?" She smiled sweetly at me and left the room.

I sighed in relief, glad that it had gone better with them than I thought it would. The only person whom I was really worried about was Lloyd. And if he talked to Kratos about what I told him...well, he'd be one pissed off former Seraphim for a while, but he'd get over it too. Earning their trust back was going to be really hard, but I felt that I was up to the challenge. The thing I was really glad about was the fact that Raine, Genis and Colette had already forgiven me for my lie and had found it in their hearts to trust me again. I'd do everything I could to make sure it wasn't misplaced.

* * *

A/N: So ends another chapter. You can see by this chapter that it jumps off into a different timeline and story from the game. And I've thought of doing something like this for Dawn of the New World, but I want to finish this one first.


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: Yeah, it's taken me a while to get everything, but I finally got to chapter 9! And holy crap, it's 10,000+ words! Anyway, on with the story! Also, please note that I went through my profile and deleted only the stories that had less than 10 reviews and the ones that I really wasn't interested in doing anymore with. I left up the ones that were complete and the ones that I liked working on.

Chapter 9

Sylvarant Summon Spirits Part 1: Undine and Efreet

As I made my way out of the room I had been recovering in, I couldn't help but feel extremely exuberant and excited about what was going to happen next. Sheena and the others would probably soon begin discussing ways to reunite the worlds. At least, I hoped so. In any case, as I arrived in Yuan's office, I asked, "Yuan, what would happen if Sheena were to make pacts with the Summon Spirits of both worlds?"

Yuan replied, giving me a look like I was insane, "If she attempts that, the mana links between the two worlds will be broken."

Kratos added, "And nothing good will come of that. The two worlds would simply break apart, and Sylvarant would perish. Tethe'alla would still survive of course, but Sylvarant would not."

I said, "Oh yeah, I hadn't thought of that. Hmm...quite the dilemma." I walked around a bit, scratching my chin as I tried to think of something. I then snapped my fingers and said, "What if we took our time in releasing them? I mean, we could start with the Summon Spirits of Sylvarant, Efreet, Undine and all them. That would give everyone in our group time to decide where they really want to be and what they want to do."

Sheena walked into the room, looking rather disturbed, "Sorry to interrupt you guys, but Lloyd said something about wanting to find a way to save both worlds. I was wondering if there's a way to do that."

I sighed and said, "Sheena, that's what we were just talking about. You're a summoner, right?"

Sheena blinked, wondering how I could know that. However, she replied, "Yeah, but...I've not made any pacts or anything...what does that have to do with saving both worlds?"

Yuan spoke up, "She thought that maybe by waking up the summon spirits of both worlds, and having you pact with them, there would be a way to do it. This would cause Mithos to lose some of his power though...and believe me, he would not be happy to discover he could no longer control the element of the matching summon spirit."

I shrugged, "So? He didn't deserve their power anyway. He was just using them selfishly to...what?" Kratos was giving me a glare for what I said.

Kratos told me, "He formed the pacts with the Summon Spirits before Martel died. His vow was to help those that suffered and to end the Kharlan War."

I commented, "Well, the war's over already, so that's taken care of. If he wanted to help those that suffered, why did he found Cruxis and the Desians to begin with? Can't he see that he's just causing more suffering?"

Raine walked into the room as well and said, "He's only causing suffering to humans. He doesn't care about human beings at all, so it's no big deal to him if humans suffer as long as he gets his sister back."

Yuan sighed, "Yes, but...that only comes as a result of a twisted perception of his sister's final wish. Believe me, I can sympathize. For a short while, I hated humans myself as a result of what happened to her. I wouldn't even talk to _Kratos_. However, in a dream, Martel came to me and told me to not blame all humans for the actions of a few and reminded me that Kratos was my friend _before_ any of it happened and that it _wasn't fair_ to hold him accountable. So, needless to say, I don't hate humans anymore."

I nodded, "I'm glad, Yuan. It's hard to believe you were /that/ tough on Kratos. I thought you two always got along."

Kratos smirked, "Heh, we mostly get along, but we do occasionally have our spats. In a way, we're like brothers." Shaking his head, the auburn-haired seraphim sighed and said, "I do not know how we can save both worlds, Joanna. What would we do about the Eternal Sword and...Origin?"

I sighed, "There's a way. It probably involves fighting Mithos for the Eternal Sword. As for the pact with Origin...well, I just don't know. I mean...I'd rather avoid it, but we may have to fight you to release him, Kratos. Are you sure you're okay with that?"

Kratos nodded, "If it means putting things back the way they are supposed to be, and helping my son, absolutely. You hardly have the skills with the blade to fight me yourself though."

Sheena spoke up, "So let Lloyd fight him. I'm sure when the time comes, he'll be ready. Kratos, if I'm remembering right, you took Zelos under your wing to learn combat basics, right?" She knew she had seen him somewhere, but it hadn't dawned on her until just now. She had seen him in Meltokio teaching Zelos to use a sword!

Kratos replied, "Yes, and your point is...?"

Sheena answered, "Well, Yuan and you can both train him up while the rest of us get the Summon Spirits of Sylvarant, starting with Efreet and Undine. After we get all the Sylvarant Summon Spirits on our side, he can come with us to release the Tethe'alla Summons. That way, if the world does split into two completely _when _and _if _the mana links break apart, we'll all be on the prospering planet and not the dying one. It's a stretch, but...well, it would be good training for him, right?"

Kratos told the young summoner, "Hmm...yes, that sounds like a reasonable plan. All right." He looked to me, "Joanna, what do you wish to do?"

I answered, "I would like to go with Raine and whoever else wants to go along to collect the summon spirits. That way, I can take care of anyone from Cruxis that tries to interfere."

Sheena nodded, "You'll need a summoner, so I'm going too, of course. Let's see...that leaves Colette, Raine, and Genis." She looked to the healer, "Well, Raine, what do you think? Do you want to come with Joanna and me?" Right now, it wouldn't be too promising for only two of us to try and take on a _Summon Spirit_, so hopefully she would agree to help.

Raine responded, "I'll come, but I want Genis kept on a Renegade base. I'd rather not risk him too much right now, especially since Cruxis is on the lookout for us."

Genis whined, "But siiiis! I can use my magic! Please let me come along too." He looked at Raine, Sheena and me with pleading eyes.

Sheena smirked and said, "Aw, come on, Raine, let Genis come too. If you're worried about him getting hurt, don't be. He'll have you, Joanna, me, and Colette if she comes, to look after him. He'll be fine."

Raine sighed, "All right, but only if Colette comes. Otherwise, I want him to remain here."

Colette walked into the room, "Did someone need me?" She asked, having heard her name mentioned twice.

I nodded, "We were wondering if you wanted to come along to help release the Summon Spirits from their pacts with Mithos."

Colette told me, "Sure, that sounds like a lot of fun! ...What do we do exactly?"

Giggling, Sheena told her, "We fight them, silly. That's how you gain the Summon Spirit's respect. Anyway, you're coming? That's great!" She looked at Genis, "Well, looks like you're coming after all, kid."

Genis smiled, "Thanks, Colette."

Colette replied, "Oh, umm...you're welcome, I guess?" She looked at Raine and me, befuddled by why Genis was so appreciative of her.

I explained, "Oh, Raine said that if you didn't go, neither could Genis."

Colette asked, "Why couldn't Genis go? He can use magic."

Shrugging, I looked to Kratos, "Can you keep Mithos from overreacting when he notices his power over water disappear?"

Kratos replied, looking a little skeptical and shrugging, "We'll have to see, but I doubt it. If he notices _anything _out of the ordinary, he immediately orders me to investigate."

I smirked, "You've been his lap dog for way too long, then."

Kratos narrowed his eyes, giving me the dreaded Aurion Glare.

Balking under the scary look, I said, "Heh...sorry, but...I'm only telling the truth."

Yuan told me, "He's only giving you that look because he knows you're right, but he doesn't want to admit it. Anyway, it's starting to get late. If you all are heading for Thoda Geyser, I'd suggest you rest here tonight and leave in the morning. That's where you'll find Undine."

Sheena nodded, "Thanks, Yuan. Do you know where Efreet and the other Summon Spirits are?"  
Yuan answered her, "Yes, but Kratos knows as well, so if it's all right with you, I'll have him accompany you for a short time before each of the spirits. That way, I can keep appraised of what's going on with my Renegades and keep them from being discovered. Kratos won't fight with you, because that would draw too much attention, but he will guide you. After the spirits are defeated, he'll have to get to Welgaia quickly before Mithos suspects anything." He looked to his friend, "Think you can do that?"

Kratos responded, "I will be able to handle it, my friend. You just worry about keeping the Renegades a secret, and my involvement as well."

Yuan nodded, "I will. Well then, I'll leave you now to prepare yourselves for tomorrow. It's going to be quite an ordeal for some of you." He said, smirking at Raine as if he knew of her 'weakness' to water.

Raine glared back at him for that, and said, "Hmph. I don't know if I should feel insulted by that or not."

I gulped, giggling nervously, "Eh-heh...sorry, Raine. I may have let it slip that you can't...oww!"

I had received a nasty wallop to my noggin compliments of her, but I probably deserved it for letting Yuan know something like that. Anyway, I told them, "Well, I'm going to take a walk around the base right now. I'm getting bored out of my skull just sitting around. Anyone want to come?"

Colette and Genis both stood up eagerly and nodded, "Yeah, we wanna come. We've never been in a place like this for very long!"

I giggled and nodded, "Come on then, let's go exploring." I looked to Kratos and Raine and Sheena, who were all giving me skeptical looks, "What? Don't worry, I won't let anything happen. If they run off and the guards give them trouble, I'll just say they're with me. After all, I'm not part of the Renegades for nothing."

Raine sighed and nodded, "All right, just be careful." She did trust me, right, but...how far did it extend? Ah well, I probably deserved to be treated like this after lying to her about my home. Anyway, I showed Genis and Colette around the base, running to keep pace with the youngsters. After they were done exploring, the Chosen and half-elf boy boy seemed exhausted.

I smiled, "You two look like you're ready to pass out. Did you have fun exploring this base?"

Colette giggled and nodded, "Yeah, it was really fun! Thank you, Joanna."

I couldn't help but laugh a little, and then nodded, "You're quite welcome, Colette. Anyway, you two should head to bed now. See you tomorrow."

Genis smiled, "See ya." He went to Yuan, asked him where some quarters were, then went to them and collapsed into a bed, falling asleep within a few minutes.

I couldn't help but peek in on the sleeping boy, just to make sure he was okay. He had been through quite a lot for such a young one. He almost reminded me of my little brother. Oh no...that sense of homesickness was coming back again. Sighing, I went to my room and lay down on my bed, staring at the ceiling. Though I didn't sleep anymore because of the fact that I was an angel, I did rest every now and then, and I often used this bed as a thinking spot. As I thought of my family and friends, I couldn't help but let out a slight whimper. How long had I been here in real time? Did anyone notice I was gone? Probably not...they probably figured I was living on my own somewhere now and had just forgotten to call to say so. So it goes...

A moment later, Yuan walked into the room, surprising me. Letting out a yelp, I sighed and said, "Please knock before you come in, Yuan. You almost gave me a heart attack. Anyway, what did you want?"

Yuan asked, "Why did you make that noise?"

I looked confused, "Noise?"

Yuan confirmed, "The whimpering sound I heard from over here..?"

I blinked, "Oh...that. Well, if you must know, that sound is because I'm feeling a little homesick and lonely. Other than that, I'm fi-!" My words were cut off when Yuan suddenly kissed me on the lips. Barely suppressing a blush, I whispered, "What was that for?"

Yuan told me, "Well,you did say you were lonely...and to tell you the truth, I have been as well. Ever since Martel, I've not had any kind of relationship with a woman and it's...really quite a lonely existence."

I replied, stammering, "I-I im-imagine it must be. But Yuan, what about-?"

Yuan told me, "I'm sure Martel would understand that I need to move on. She wouldn't want me to linger in the past."

I reminded him, "But...I'm not even from _this universe_! Why me?"

Yuan answered, "Maybe you are, but that doesn't matter. You have a kind and gentle heart, Joanna. It shows through in the way you tried to help the Chosen. At least consider it...please?"

Sighing, I whispered in his ear, "I'll think about it. Now then, leave me alone. I need some time to decide whether or not I'll fly Raine to the seal."

Yuan blinked, "But...that's dangerous. You might get caught."

I nodded, "That's why I'm thinking about it first."

Yuan smirked, "Heh...you've got guts, Joanna. That's another thing I like about you." He ran his fingers through my shortened hair and closed the distance between us.

Blushing, I replied, "Thanks. Anyway, leave me now. I can't think clearly with you here."

Yuan couldn't help but chuckle a little, "I wonder why that might be."

Blushing a deeper red, I yelled at him, "Just go!"

Yuan blinked, "Okay." He left the room.

My head cleared after a bit, and I tried to think a way of flying Raine over to Thoda Geyser without being detected by Cruxis. Hmm...I came up with something that might work, but I had to ask Kratos about it first. I asked him flatly, a little distracted, "Hey, Kratos...is there anyway I can hide my mana?"

Kratos nodded, "Naturally. All high-ranking Seraphim and the Chosen One have that ability. But why did you need to know that?"

I replied flatly, "I was thinking of flying Raine over to the geyser. Given her fear of water, I thought I'd do her a favor, since she helped heal me even after finding out the truth."

Kratos responded, "Ahh, I see. Well, I'm going to prepare for the journey tomorrow. See you then." He then noticed that I seemed just a little distracted and asked, "Something on your mind?"

I blinked, blushing a little. I then answered, "W-well, it's just that...Yuan kissed me."

Kratos's eyes widened, then narrowed into a glare. Umm...why did his expression change so drastically? I shook him and asked, "Kratos, are you okay? Why is that look on your face?"

Kratos turned his back to me, "No reason. Anyway, that's interesting that Yuan should have done that. I didn't think he'd develop _those_ kinds of feelings for anyone anymore."

I replied, "Yeah, me neither...anyway, I'd better get going. I'll see you tomorrow." Wondering if Kratos was jealous of Yuan, I sighed and shook my head as Kratos left the room, "This isn't happening...no way do I have Kratos and Yuan fighting over me. This sort of stuff just doesn't happen to me."

Zelos sauntered into the room, as he had come to the Renegade base as well, looking for Sheena, "And why not? You're quite a cute hunny, if I do say so myself."

Groaning in annoyance, I yelled at no one, "Can I not have _one moment_ of peace? Does this world hate me that much?"

Trying to cheer me up, Zelos said, "Hey, you've got two...no, make that three, guys crushing after you. Then, the world can't hate you that much, right? Anyway, what's your name, beautiful?" He said charmingly as he took my hand and kissed it.

Slightly embarrassed by the grand gesture, I blushed and said, "I'm Joanna."

Zelos smiled a real smile, "That's a really pretty name for a really pretty hunny. If you didn't know already, I'm Zelos Wilder."

I nodded, "It's nice to meet you, Zelos. Did you come here looking for Sheena?"

Zelos blinked, "Am I that transparent?"

Zelos earned the title "_**Transparent**_." You know so well what he's doing here, that you can see right through him!

I giggled, "Yes, I'm afraid so. Anyway, Sheena's talking with Lloyd and the others right now."

Zelos asked, "Then do you mind if I stay here a bit with you and get acquainted?"

I shrugged, "I guess so. There's no harm in it. Just don't try anything on me."

Zelos looked shocked at my accusation, "I wouldn't dream of it, my dear. You're the only other person besides Sheena who calls me by name. That counts for something in my books." He winked at me and sat down in an empty chair, "So then, what's your family like?"

I looked at the floor and replied, "Well, my mom's a librarian, but she works really far away from us, hundreds of miles. She comes home every other weekend though. My dad's a school librarian so...he gets summers off. My sister's married now, to someone that has always been a close friend of the family and lives even further away then my mom, my big brother's a pastor, and my little brother's just graduated high school. He has a girlfriend who works to support him. A little unorthodox, but acceptable for now."

Zelos nodded, "That's cool. What're their names?"

I sighed and said, "David and Melodi are my parents, Jonathan is my big brother, Joelene is my little sister, and Joel is my little brother. His girlfriend is Abby. Anyway, enough about me. What will you tell me about yourself?"

Zelos answered, "Well, I have a half-sister named Seles...but we hardly get to see each other anymore since she's kept locked up in an abbey. Both of my parents are dead...so in a way you're lucky, you still have your whole family. They may not live particularly here, but at least you still have them to think about."

I blinked, re-thinking my view on Zelos. Maybe he wasn't so bad once you got past the rough exterior. He was right...at least I still had my whole family to think of. His parents were both dead, and his only relative was prevented access to him. I _was _lucky. Now that I thought about it, I couldn't resist the urge to run up and hug him. I did for a moment, but when I felt his hand go to my breast, I smacked him hard. "You idiot! I was hugging you because I felt sorry for you, and then you had to go and ruin it!"

Zelos shook his head, "Don't feel sorry for me. I don't deserve your pity. I don't even deserve to be alive."

I gasped, "Zelos...what do you mean?" I knew someone had said something to him once that wasn't particularly nice...but who was it, and what had they said? Grah! I rubbed my forehead as I attempted to remember that particular aspect of his background. It suddenly came to mind and I frowned, "Zelos...your mother may have said that you should never have been born, but she should've known better than to. _No child_ deserves to hear that from their parents, no matter _how_ good or bad they have behaved. I'm sorry she was so distant and cold to you...but you have to learn to _trust_ people and let them in. Not _everyone_ is out to get you because of your status."

Zelos looked like he had just been slapped in the face and flinched, "But, Joanna, I..."

I shook my head, "No, Zelos. I'm telling you the truth. In fact...I-I actually, rather like you, to tell you the truth. I admire you for being able to keep going despite all the bad stuff that you've had in your life. That's what makes you the Chosen of Tethe'alla. So please...try to _really_ enjoy life and not just pretend for the sake of others." Walking a little closer, I gave him a peck on the cheek and winked, "Otherwise, you won't ever have a chance at me."

Zelos smirked, "Heh, just wait. I'll give Kratos and Yuan a run for their money. I'll make you the happiest you've ever been. Well, I've gotta go find Sheena, but I'll see you around." He gave me a loose hug on his way out, then left the room.

Sighing in bliss, I collapsed back into my bed, butterflies in my stomach because of all the awkwardness of the afternoon. Now, to _actually_ thinking about flying Raine to Thoda Geyser. I couldn't believe I had gotten so distracted by them!

After about an hour, I muttered, "Well...since I owe Raine so much for helping me, I probably should do that." Standing up and walking out, I went to find Kratos, to find out how I could hide my mana from being detected by Cruxis.

I found him in one of the training rooms, practicing with his sword alongside Yuan, who was practicing with the Swallow. Trying not to stare, as they were both shirtless, I cleared my throat and said, "Excuse me."

Kratos said, although he didn't look at me while saying it since he was blocking an attack by Yuan, "Yes, what is it?"

I replied, "Can you show me how to hide my mana signature? You did mention it earlier..."

Kratos sighed and nodded, "I will after I'm done here. Wait for me."

I nodded, "Okay, I'll wait outside." Hopefully, he would put his shirt back on to talk to me. Otherwise, I'd be stumbling to talk while forcing myself not to stare at his muscular, toned body. Needless to say, Kratos was more attractive in real life than he is in the game.

Kratos finished his training session with Yuan and left the room, still not wearing a shirt.

Sighing, I forced myself to look him in the eye and asked, "So, how was your training session?"

Kratos replied, "It was the usual. Anyway, I'll tell you the basics of how to hide your mana signature. After that, the rest will be up to you. You have a lot of potential, so don't let this go to waste."

I nodded, "Okay."

Kratos responded, "Good. Now then, to hide your mana signature, just think of the scariest experience you've had. After that, channel the fear and think of a way that you would have dealt with the situation, how you would hide from that fear or run away from it, or whatever. After doing all of that, just think of hiding from a person you're really afraid of and your mana signature should distort at first, then become invisible."

I blinked, "...Okay, sounds simple enough." I closed my eyes and thought of my scariest memory, the day my little brother had slipped and fallen in the bath tub. He had busted his chin open, and there was blood everywhere. As tears filled my eyes because of the fear I felt, I did my best to channel that terrified energy and thought of a way to deal with it. _Tell yourself he's okay and cover up the blood_. Wait...had Kratos been listening in on my thoughts? Resisting the urge to smack him for interrupting, I then thought of a person that I was really quite frightened of. The first person that popped into my mind was the "Sandman" from Doctor Who. He had put The Doctor, Amy Pond, and Rory into a deep sleep, but made it seem like an alternate reality. But which one was the reality? That episode had really quite confused me. I thought hard of how I could hide from someone like that. Hmm...yeah, this was really quite hard. I snapped my fingers as I thought of it. What if I used the powder he used on Amy, The Doctor, and Rory on _him_? I could then hide anywhere in reality without him realizing where I was, as he would be asleep. It was then that my mana signature dropped off, undetectable to Kratos, or anyone else for that matter.

Kratos blinked, surprised how quickly I had caught on. He replied, "Very good, Joanna."

I opened my eyes and smiled, "Thanks. So...how do I _undo_ it?"

Kratos replied, "Oh, just think of something very funny that you have experienced and laugh as loudly as you can and it should become visible."

I thought hard, then remembered something hilarious. As I broke out into fits of laughter, and laughing as loudly as I could, my mana signature became detectable again.

Kratos was smirking, as if resisting the urge to laugh himself. He nodded, "That's excellent. You catch onto things quite quickly."

Between fits of laughter, I responded, "Th-thanks...ah-hahaha! Hoo! That was funny!"

Kratos was still smirking and asked, "May I ask what you thought of?"

I responded, "A funny picture I found on the Internet at home. It's supposed to be one of Yuan...dressed in a tutu."

Kratos let out something that sounded almost like a snort, shoulders shaking because of how hard he was trying not to laugh. After calming down, he smiled at me and said, "Thank you."

Actually not too scared of the fact that he was smiling now, I asked, "For what?"

Kratos added, "For helping me to be able to laugh again. That's something I haven't been able to do for a long while. Not since...you know."

I nodded, "You're welcome."

After a few moments of silence, Kratos tentatively stepped closer to me and tenderly touched me on the jaw. He said, "Perhaps I could do something for you now."

Not wanting to encourage or discourage what he was doing because of the uncertain feelings I had for all three men, I took a step back and asked, "And what would that be?"

Kratos responded, "When Yuan's not around, I could be a romantic companion to you. Perhaps more, if you will let me."

I sighed and took a step back, unsure of myself. I told him, "Kratos...I know you love Anna, who is dead. Do you really want to dishonor her memory by being with _me_, someone who is so much _younger_ than you?"

Kratos told me, "Anna wasn't that much older than you when we got involved, and would want me to be happy and move on. Do you want me to be lonely for the rest of my existence?"

I shook my head, "No, but...look, I need some time to sort things out _before_ I get definitely involved with anyone, okay? When I'm ready to be with someone for sure, I'll let you know, even if it's _not_ you. Is that good enough?"

Kratos nodded, "It's going to have to serve for now." He said, giving me a light peck on my cheek before leaving the room. Hopefully, things wouldn't be too awkward on the journey. If I could convince Raine that Kratos was in love with her...maybe that would turn his romantic attentions away from me for a while. But did I really want that to happen? Sighing, I walked around the base, gathering the rest of the party so we could leave to go face Undine. I first ran into Raine, who was yawning and not quite fully awake. I said, "Morning, Raine."

Raine looked at me, "Oh, good morning, Joanna. How are you?"

I replied, "I'm fine, thank you. Actually, a little distracted to be completely honest. I've got some things to think through on our journey over to Thoda Geyser...actually,_ a lot_ to think through."

Raine asked me, "Oh, and what's that?"

I whispered to her, "Kratos, Yuan, and Zelos _all_ have crushes on me. They're all really attractive and...I _can't choose_."

Raine gave me some advice, saying, "You should be with the one out of them that makes you feel happiest and most like yourself. You shouldn't have to completely change who you are to be completely happy with the person who is your lover. Which one of the three does that?"

I answered, "Well...I really _don't know_. I don't feel like any of them would ask me to change who I am _completely_."

She asked, "Well, which one of them are you most comfortable around?"

Feeling almost like I was talking to my mother, I answered, "They _all_ make me feel comfortable, and therein lies the problem!"

Raine nodded, "Well, take your time with this. I don't want you rushing in on anything. Kratos has lost someone he loved already. Be careful not to break his heart. Zelos...well, I don't know much about him really, so be careful. Yuan...well, same goes for him as it does with Kratos. Only, he's probably more ready for a romantic interlude than Kratos is since it was a very long time ago that he lost his beloved. Best of luck to you in deciding."

I sighed and told her, "Right, thanks. Well, we should probably leave for Thoda Geyser now. Shall we _gather_ the rest of our group?"

Raine responded, "Yes. You go and get Colette and Sheena. I'll get Genis, Zelos and Kratos." It was probably a better idea for her to get them than me because I would spend more time talking to them than would have been appropriate.

A short time later, we met up in the Rheiard hangar bay and I smiled and winked to Kratos and Zelos, just to gauge their reactions.

Kratos only gave me a smile back, while Zelos winked back.

Rolling her eyes, Raine cleared her throat and said, "All right, enough. Let's get going."

Zelos spoke up and said, "Actually, I'm staying behind to train your friend Lloyd. Yuan said that it would be better if Lloyd had two opponents since he uses two swords and it would help him improve more dramatically and faster. So...I'll see you hunnies later."

I nodded, "Good luck in training Lloyd then. I'm sure you'll _need it_ since Kratos gave him some preliminary training." After all, he had sparred with Lloyd all those times and from what I could tell, it was having some effect on his fighting.

Zelos smirked, "Don't worry, my Alien Rose, I don't need it. I'll have thoughts of Sheena and you fighting against Undine to keep me going." He got hearts in his eyes as he thought of our bobbing breasts.

I looked to Sheena and nodded, who then nodded back. We both walked up to Zelos and smacked him on the back of the head.

Lloyd busted out laughing and said, "Ha ha! Oh, Zelos just got pwned by two _girls_!"

Kratos smirked and said, "Well, anyway, Joanna, you'd better get going. You're flying Raine there, aren't you?"

I blinked, "Oh, right." I looked to Raine and told her, "Take a firm grip on both of my hands. I'm flying you to Undine so that you don't have to ride in the rickety washtubs again."

Raine told me, "Oh, thank you. You didn't need to bother with that."

I shook my head and told her, "No, I owe you for helping me out after the bout in the Tower, and this is my way of paying you back. So hang on."

Raine sighed and nodded, firmly gripping both my hands.

I took out my wings, which were very blue in color, but on the outer edges, it had pink and green. They were also draconic in shape, which was somewhat interesting. Hmm...maybe my wings looked like that because I was from Earth. Well, whatever the reason was didn't matter. I flapped my wings and hovered, as I had seen Colette do. I then said, "Well, Raine and I are off. See you guys in a few hours." I ran toward the hangar door, Raine keeping up with me no problem.

Yuan opened the hangar door to let me out and I jumped into the air and began beating my wings hard to stay aloft. After adjusting to being in the air, I squealed out of ecstasy. Flying was so much fun! I had always wondered what it would feel like to fly without being in an airplane or having a parachute attached. It was immensely freeing!

Raine was holding tightly to my hands, bringing me back from my state of bliss. She said, "Let's go, Joanna. I know you're enjoying this, but we've got to get to the Thoda Geyser."

Sighing and nodding, I answered, "All right, come on."

It was 1:00 in the afternoon by the time we reached the geyser. Hopefully, the others would arrive soon. I really didn't want to go up against Undine on my own with just Raine as backup. Totally not a good idea. As we waited for Colette and the others, I took out a peace of parchment and began to write some poetry, mostly about the three men who had crushes on me. Maybe it would help me sort out who I wanted to be with more. The acrostics for their names went like this:

Youthful appearance Killed his wife, but was left with no choice

Unsophisticated Really good friend of Martel  
A good kisser An excellent swordsman  
Not forceful Tall and muscular

Origin's Seal  
Killed human who betrayed him Saves, or rather, attempts to save those he loves  
A lover, not a fighter

Is looking for a new life companion Angelic Seraphim of Cruxis

- Unnervingly cold to his enemies  
Four Seraphim, one of them Really strong  
Excellence is a must Immortal  
Immortal One of the good guys

Nerves of steel

Zestful

Elegantly dressed  
Loves to tease Sheena  
Only wants to live a fun, carefree life  
Skirt-chaser

Wallflower sometimes Loves Colette  
Idolizes Lloyd, but won't admit it L  
Likes Sheena O  
Daring Y  
Emotional D  
Really hates being Chosen of Tethe'alla

The others arrived just as I had started on one for Lloyd. I quickly rolled up the piece of parchment paper and put it in my bag. Hopefully no one had seen it or would ask to see it. I looked to Kratos and Sheena, "So, how was the trip in the washtubs, this time?"

Sheena groaned, "I don't know how you guys can stand not being in actual boats. I've got cramps in my legs from sitting in that dingy old washtub for so long. They're so small!"

Raine had put away the book she had been reading and said, "I for one, am glad I didn't have to ride in them. After what happened when we last went in them, I was afraid of going back into them again."

I frowned and nodded, "That's another reason I agreed to fly you, Raine. You almost drowned and I knew you wouldn't even budge from the dock if we tried to get you on them."

Genis spoke up and said, "Come on, Undine's waiting."

Sheena gulped, "Waiting for what? To drown us?"

I could only imagine what Sheena was going through right now. Hopefully, she wouldn't have a Volt relapse in the middle of fighting with Undine. Otherwise, it could get very ugly for us, very fast.

We walked further inland, heading to the temple. As soon as we entered, I noticed an increase in humidity and groaned, "Is Undine trying to keep us away? Is that why it suddenly got so humid?"

Kratos observed, "The air does seem rather damp. She may indeed be trying to repel us with this."

Genis spoke up, "We can't let her beat us like this though. We have to make it to her." He looked to Kratos, "Where is she?"

Kratos replied, "She's at the same place that the seal is. Remember, I can't help you fight, but if anyone gets hurt, I will do what I can to heal them if the injury is serious."

I nodded, "All right, thanks Kratos." At least he would be helping somewhat. I just hoped he wouldn't get himself caught that way.

Once we reached the warp, we took it down to the seal and found Undine standing there, as if waiting expectantly for something...or someone. She looked at Sheena and said, "What dost thou ask of me, mighty summoner?"

Sheena replied, "I seek to establish a pact with Undine."

Undine told her, "I have a pact with Mithos already. I cannot form two pacts at the same time."

To stop a delay in fighting Undine and gaining her power, I said, "Undine, Mithos has already broken his vow. He vowed to stop the suffering, but he is only making it worse." I then looked to Sheena and nodded, "Try now."

Undine looked surprised, but then narrowed her eyes, "Oh...I see. Well then, since the previous pact-maker has broken his vow, then I can establish a new pact with you, Sheena. Prepare yourselves!" She said, shouting to all of us.

The fight with Undine took a really long time, and a lot of energy out of us. During the fight, Undine went after Raine, to stop her from healing Sheena and me. I went after her to stop her, but was blown back by a violent Spread spell. Sheena leapt over me, asking, "You okay?"

I replied, "I'll be fine! Keep Raine safe!"

Too late. By the time Sheena got there, Raine already had a deep gash across her stomach from Undine's violent onslaught. The mermaid-looking Summon Spirit was about to use Aqua Edge on her when Kratos grabbed her up and shielded her from the spell with his own body, getting sliced by the water disc looking things. Wincing, he then frowned, "Raine is badly hurt. I will do what I can for her." He backed up from the fight, knowing that the rest of us would be too busy fighting to protect him while he did that.

We finally beat Undine and I gave a relieved sigh. Apart from Raine being seriously injured, I had a nasty-looking bruise on the backs of my shoulders from colliding with the wall and smaller cuts on my arms and legs from a few Aqua Edges earlier in the fight. Sheena seemed relatively unhurt and Colette and Genis were okay too, if not exhausted.

Genis got a worried expression on his face and gasped, "Raine...is she all right?" He asked, running over to where Kratos and Raine had been. However, only a half-conscious Raine with a gash on her stomach remained there. Where had Kratos gone?

Raine spoke up and said, "Genis...I will be all right." She grimaced as she sat up and said, "Kratos said he had to go and check on Mithos after you all defeated Undine. It's probably not long until his old pact is canceled."

Sheena nodded, "Oh right. Now time for me to do my part. Undine, I ask that thou annulst thy pact with Mithos and establish a new pact with me."

Undine seemed rather happy to be rid of the pact and said, "Since the previous pact-maker has broken his vow, I see no problem with that. Make your vow, Sheena."

Sheena said, "Right now, in both worlds, there are people that suffer. I vow to save those people and return peace to Sylvarant and Tethe'alla."

Undine responded, "Understood, Sheena. My power is thine." She disappeared in a twinkling of blue light and Sheena got the Sapphire.

Meanwhile, in Dherris-Kharlan...

Mithos had been about to use a water spell to soak Pronyma for annoying him so much, when he noticed that he suddenly could no longer use water mana. He shouted, "Kratos!"

Kratos appeared at his side and asked, "My lord?"

Mithos replied, "Do you know why I can't control water mana anymore?"

Kratos shook his head, "No, sir. Do you want me to investigate?"

Mithos answered, "Of course! And take Pronyma with you. She's on my last nerve right now."

Kratos sighed and nodded, "Very well. Come, Pronyma." He left Mithos and took Pronyma to her quarters in one of the towers. "Good bye, Pronyma."  
Pronyma sauntered up to Kratos and touched his face, "Y'know...I've always wanted to be on Lord Yggdrassil's good side. Maybe you can tell me what makes him happy...hmm? What it is that makes him tick."

Kratos swatted her hand away and told her, "No, I'm not going to do that. Sorry, Pronyma but I only escorted you here because he told me to, not because I wanted to. I'll see you around. I've got some things to take care of in my hovel."

Pronyma whined, "All alone? Such a pity..."

Kratos told her, "That's how it has to be. Deal with it." He opened the door with a touch of his hand to the panel, shoved her into her room and allowed the sliding door to close. She was _such_ an annoyance. Always trying to sneak into everyone's pants and cause some sort of trouble...well, his and Mithos's anyway. Mithos had probably only given her leadership of the Five Grand Cardinals as a way of getting her out of his hair. Anyway, Kratos sighed and walked towards the warp to the surface, to the Tower of Salvation in Sylvarant. Thankfully, none of the angelic patrols seemed to take notice of that and he sighed, "Well...so far, so good." He left Dherris-Kharlan and went to the Tower of Salvation, where he then headed back to the Renegade Base in Triet.

Once he arrived, I ran over and hugged him, not realizing how worried I had been about him. I asked, "How did everything go? Did Mithos react badly or...what?"

Kratos replied, blushing lightly from the unexpected hug, "Quite a negative reaction, but once I told him I'd investigate the reason he no longer has control of water, he calmed down a little. I also had to deal with Pronyma. She doesn't suspect anything, but I'm afraid she may catch on if this goes on too much longer."

I thought a moment, then said, "Let me worry about keeping Pronyma busy, and Zelos can take my place at helping Sheena and the others with the summon spirits."

Raine said, as she sat up in the bed, "But you're part of the Renegades and Yuan and Mithos both know that. How will you make her trust you?"

I replied, "Well, sure Mithos knows, but Pronyma doesn't. As far as she knows, I'm still part of Cruxis. As long as I have that advantage, I can use it against her and keep her eyes averted to what Kratos is doing."

Zelos walked in and said, "But eventually she'll be told that you're part of the Renegades."

I retorted, "By the time she finds out, we'll have all the Summon Spirits on our side. At least, I hope so."

Yuan came in and nodded, "I can keep her from finding out. I have ways."

I tried my best not to sound jealous and responded, "And what ways are those?"

Kratos told me, "Pronyma has a crush on all three of us male Seraphim. If Yuan can divert her for a little while, she won't care about what I'm doing as she'll be too involved with him. Don't be jealous, Joanna. It's not as if he's going to _enjoy_ diverting her that way. None of us _really_ like Pronyma at all. To be honest, I think Mithos gave her the position as leader of the Grand Cardinals to keep her busy and away from him."

I replied, "Oh...so, Yuan's not going to give up on...?"

Yuan smirked and replied, "No chance, Joanna. I will win your affections."

I sighed, "I don't know who I want yet, Yuan, so calm down."

Corrine told Yuan, "Yeah, don't tease Joanna like that, Yuan. Her heart is in conflict right now."

Sheena looked confused, "Conflict? What sort of conflict and why?"

Corrine glanced at his friend and replied, "A conflict of passions. She can't decide who she is really in love with more, Kratos, Yuan or Zelos."

Sheena blinked, "Wow...and I thought I had issues."

Blushing, I responded, "Shut it, you! Anyway, shouldn't Yuan get going to divert Pronyma for a while?"

Yuan nodded, "Yes. I will do that while you go help Sheena and the others capture Efreet." He blew me a kiss and winked, then left the room.

Blushing, I turned to the others, "Well, anyway...let's get to the ruins. I wish we didn't have to go through the scorching desert again though."

Kratos told me, "You know, you and I could fly there. It would be less time in the heat."

I smirked and said, "Anything to get a few minutes with me alone, huh?"

Kratos got an odd look on his face, sort of a mix of uncomfortable and embarrassed expression, then responded, "No, that's not it. I just don't..."

Cutting him off, Raine said, "We know what you meant, Kratos." She rolled her eyes at me for my comment then told us, "Well, if you two fly, be careful. We can't have you getting caught by Cruxis."

I told her, "No worries, Raine. We'll keep an eye out. If we do attract the attention of Cruxis, we'll just fly away from the ruins and kill them before they can tell what's really going on here."

Colette responded, "We know you will...but still, we have to worry as your friends."

I smiled at the blonde Chosen and told her, "I know, Colette. Thank you." I took out my wings again and hid my mana signature as soon as they were out, looking to Kratos. "Ready?"

Kratos had his bluish-green wings out and nodded his head, "One moment." He closed his eyes to use the technique I did to hide his mana signature, then told me, "All right, let's get going."

We joined Yuan in the corridor, and he asked us, "Why are you flying?"

I told him, "Yuan, we're flying to the ruins to help the others collect Efreet. We're hiding our mana so Cruxis won't detect us, so don't worry. Well, anyway, I'll see you later." I hovered a little lower so I could reach Yuan and gave him a small hug, just in case anything should happen to either of us while we were busy with our missions.

Yuan nodded as he released me from the hug, "Still, be careful." He left, briefly stopping in the Rheiard bay and opening it before going to Dherris-Kharlan to divert Pronyma.

Kratos looked at me and asked, "Are you sure you're ready for this? And what of Raine? She's still pretty injured from Undine."

I answered, "I'm sure I'm ready. Raine should stay behind and recover. I know she worries about Genis, but as long as we're around to make sure he doesn't get hurt, everything will be okay."

Nodding his head, the purple-clad seraphim flapped his wings a little before leaving the Renegade base by flying out the open Rheiard bay. I quickly followed, not saying another word. Too much was at stake right now for us to get caught.

We landed at the Triet Ruins a measly hour and a half later, pulling our wings in and going inside the burning hot structure so we could make our mana detectable to the others again so they wouldn't get lost.

Kratos asked me, "So, have you figured out a way to get yourself home yet?"

I blinked, "Well, that came out of nowhere. No, not yet. It would probably involve the Eternal Sword though, and we're nowhere near getting that right now."

Kratos nodded, "I was just asking. Has the conflict in your heart resolved yet?"

I shook my head, "No...and that's gonna take some time. I'm still a little homesick every now and then and that doesn't help at all. Anyway, it'll resolve itself in a few days and I'll really be able to decide who I want then. I hope you don't mind waiting."

Kratos responded, "Not at all. How could I have helped Anna raise Lloyd for those three years without patience?"

I giggled and told him, "That's true. All right, I'll let you, Yuan, Zelos and the others know as soon as I've decided something."

Kratos told me, "I'm surprised you didn't fall for Lloyd. He seems like he would be better suited for you."

I sighed, "Honestly, I don't deserve a great guy like Lloyd, and anyway, I'm pretty sure he loves Colette so it doesn't matter what I say to him."

Kratos shrugged, "Perhaps that's true, but it never hurts to be honest with him."

I confessed to Kratos, "I see Lloyd like a younger brother, so I would be weirded out constantly if we were to ever date."

Kratos smirked and nodded, ending the conversation, "Right...well, good luck in deciding."

A little while later, Sheena and the others arrived.

Raine asked, "So, what did you two do to entertain yourselves while waiting for us?"

I told them, "Well, I got to know Kratos a little better. We talked and that's about it. Anyway, Raine, you should head back to the base. You're still recovering from the fight with Undine. We'll keep Genis safe and sound for you."

Raine sighed and nodded, "All right, I'll go back. Just keep me informed."

Genis told her, "Of course, sis. See you later."

Raine nodded to her brother, then left, going back to the base.

Sheena asked me, "So...during that time, did you decide on anything?"

I shook my head, "No...nothing yet. I'm sorry it's taking so long for me to decide. It's just that this is a big decision and I wanna make sure I think it all the way through before taking any action."

Corrine spoke up, "The conflict will resolve itself in a few days. I'm feeling that."

Colette reminded me, "Lloyd and Zelos are at the base training. We'll probably see them after we're done here."

I nodded, "Okay so...let's go get Efreet!"

Encouraged by my positive attitude, the others nodded and we all headed into the seal.

After getting into the room with all the lava, we did what we needed to, to get to where Efreet would be waiting. We ran into a few monsters along the way, but they weren't as strong as some of the ones we had faced in the water seal, so we were able to defeat them in a matter of minutes.

Once we reached the seal room, Sheena trembled lightly as she regarded Efreet, sensing his power. Hopefully, she wasn't reminded of Volt and the incident with the quarter of Mizuho's population that had been killed by him. She stepped up to the mighty summon spirit and said, "Mighty Efreet, I ask thou to grant me thy power."

Efreet answered her, "I already have a pact with Mithos. As Undine had said before, two pacts cannot be formed at the same time."

Bowing before the fire spirit, I added, "Efreet, we have learned that Mithos has broken his vow and is now causing suffering to the people of Sylvarant. We beg you to rescind your pact with Mithos and to form a new pact with Sheena."

Efreet roared, as if angry at Mithos for breaking the vow. He told us, "Very well, I shall grant you your wish. Now, all of you, show me your strength!" He lashed out at us with fire magic, charging up the Eruption spell.

Kratos shouted, "Everybody scatter!"

Obeying Kratos' command, we all leapt different directions, not to be caught in Efreet's spell.

The spell soon was ready and played out right next to me. Wooo, that was too close. "Thanks Kratos!" I shouted as I got out my crossbow and scythe.

He nodded and focused, beginning to prepare his own spell. More specifically, a water one. I could tell by the blue hue of the runes on the floor. To protect him from Efreet, I moved to stand in front of him. Hopefully, he would unleash it soon. After all, fire was weak to water...right?

Watching the others fight, I asked, "Do you guys need me or am I okay just standing here protecting Kratos?"

Sheena shouted back, "We're okay for now. Just protect Kratos so he can unleash his spell!"

Nodding, I stayed where I was.

During the fight though, Colette got knocked back into me, almost resulting in me bumping into Kratos and breaking his concentration. That didn't quite happen though. I managed to maintain my balance and pushed Colette forward, "Careful there, Colette. You almost made me bump into Kratos."

Kratos told me, "It's all right. The spell's ready. You two get out of the way. It's a rather strong spell and I'd rather not hurt my allies."

I smiled and nodded, "Let's move, Colette." I moved in with her to attack Efreet so he wouldn't notice what Kratos was doing.

Kratos shouted, "Tidal Wave!"

My eyes widening at the intensity of the spell, I asked, "How were you able to use a water spell?"

Kratos responded, "I believe it has something to do with being on the side that wants to save both worlds. Anyway, we should make sure Efreet is defeated."

I nodded and looked toward the fire spirit. Surprisingly, he wasn't defeated yet, and was beginning to charge Kratos! Glaring, I ran at him to attack and shouted, "Back off!"

Efreet hit me with a fireball attack and continued going after Kratos, as the seraphim had done significant damage.

Sheena gasped and chased after Efreet as well, not wanting her ally felled by the mighty Summon Spirit. She probably didn't want another Volt-like incident.

Genis began preparing a water spell also, being protected by Colette.

Colette told him, "Hurry up, Genis. Efreet's getting really close to Kratos!"

Kratos braced himself, hands firmly grasping his sword and shield.

Something unanticipated happened. Efreet picked Kratos up, digging his claws into the seraphim's sides, which drew blood.

Kratos flinched at the sight of the injuries, "Put me down, you!"

Efreet responded, catching the weapon with his free hand, "You were Mithos's teacher! It's your fault he broke his vow. You never imparted your wisdom to him."

Kratos sighed, "Don't think I didn't try, Efreet. The boy wouldn't listen to me. When...when Martel died, we all felt hopeless for quite some time. Her death...changed Mithos forever."

Efreet frowned, "Oh...I'm sorry. I did not know she had lost her life. Is there anything I may do to help you, old friend?"

Kratos responded, "You can start by putting me down. This is rather uncomfortable."

Efreet nodded, "Of course. And since Mithos broke his vow, there is no reason I cannot grant you a pact with me, Sheena. Finish this fight and we'll see if you're strong enough."

It took us a while but we finally defeated Efreet, although the fight wasn't easy on Kratos since he had been hurt by him.

Efreet said, "Good work, all of you. You have proven your strength." He told Sheena, "Make your vow, Sheena, and please, I ask thou not to break it. I do not think I could take another betrayal."

Sheena nodded, "Efreet. All right then, right now, there are people in Sylvarant, and in Tethe'alla, that suffer. I vow to save those people and to do my best to save both worlds."

Efreet replied, "Very good, Sheena. My power belongs to thee." He disappeared in little red star-shaped points of light and Sheena got the Ruby.

I nodded and said, "That just leaves Luna, Aska, and the Sylph. I don't think we need to take them on today though...huh?" I noticed that Kratos had seemingly disappeared. Wait...if he showed up to Mithos's castle injured...oh dear. Sighing, I told the others, "You all go on back to the base. I'll see to Kratos."

Sheena responded, "Okay, but be careful." She, Colette and Genis all went back to the Renegade base in Triet, while I made my way to the Tower of Salvation. Once I reached it, I took the elevator thing up to the comet of Dherris-Kharlan. Hopefully I wasn't too late to heal Kratos.

I asked one of the angel patrols, "Excuse me, have you seen Lord Kratos?"

The angel replied, "He headed to his hovel. He seemed badly hurt. Do you know what happened to him, Lady Joanna?"

I sighed and nodded, "Yes, but I'd rather not discuss it with you, lowlife. Continue your duties...oh, Pronyma! Hello. Where is Lord Yuan?"

Pronyma responded, "He is otherwise detained at the moment. I just came to see what was going on with Lord Kratos. I sensed he was injured..."

I told her, "And I'll explain to you in due time. Just let me take care of him, okay? You go be with Yuan. I'm sure he's waiting for you."

Pronyma seemed put out by what I said, but she nodded and went back to her quarters.

I reached Kratos's hovel not too long after, but I sensed another being in there. Wait...it was _Mithos_! What could I do? If he detected me here, I could be hurt since I was part of the Renegades! Sighing, I closed my eyes and focused on hiding my mana. I should've done that before I came up here, but I had forgotten in my mad rush to help Kratos. I then ducked down behind the house to keep from being seen.

Mithos came out of the hovel and looked around, having detected my mana a minute ago, but then it seemed to disappear. Shaking his head, the blonde angel went back into the hovel to resume healing his mentor.

I rose up to my knees to watch through the window, just to make sure Mithos wasn't going to do anything inappropriate. After all, losing his sister had driven him insane.

Feeling he was watched, the blonde turned his head slightly to look over his shoulder.

I ducked down before I could be seen.

When his eyes landed at the window, the space where I had been was empty.

Sighing, Mithos shook his head and finished healing Kratos.

Once the man was conscious, he flinched and sat up slowly. He told Mithos, "Oh...Mithos. Hello."

Mithos nodded, "Hello, old friend. Are you all right? What happened?"

Kratos answered, "...It's a long story, and I'd rather not get into it right now if you don't mind."

Mithos responded, "Well...all right, but please, the next time you go to the surface tell one of the patrols you're going and have them report it to me. I was worried sick about you, Kratos. If I hadn't found you on the streets of Triet, you could have been killed. That would have released Origin and all my pacts would have been null and void. Speaking of which..I noticed something earlier when I first found you. I was going to start a fire at the inn there to try and get some boiling water for your injuries, but I found that I couldn't control fire mana anymore. Do you know why? Have you figured out why water mana is no longer controllable either?"

Kratos shook his head, "No, but I will get right on it, Mithos. Thank you for helping me."

Mithos nodded, "I'll leave you to think then. If you need anything, let me know. Good bye for now." He walked out of the hovel then headed back to the castle.

Relieved that I hadn't been seen, I jumped into the little hovel through the window and hugged Kratos, "That was awfully close."

Kratos sighed, returning my embrace lightly with one arm, although blushing a little. He said, "Indeed. Anyway, we should get back. I'm sure Yuan and the others are getting worried."

I nodded, "Right. Let's go then."

Kratos nodded back and we walked in silence to the warp to the Tower of Salvation. After arriving, we left the Tower to go to the Renegade Base in Triet.

Things were looking good for the Regeneration of both worlds, although it was going a little too slowly for my liking. I hoped we would soon finish up, or things could go south. Especially if Pronyma started keeping tabs on Kratos despite Yuan's diversion of her attentions. Well, I'd just have to wait to see what happened.

A/n: The tour of the base does serve a purpose later on in the story. You'll just have to stay tuned into the story to see what it is. And...I really can't decide which Tales of Symphonia guy I want more, Kratos, Zelos or Yuan...so, put your vote in and whoever gets the most votes is who the fictional me will be with.


End file.
